Through the eyes of blind love
by Mixilip1
Summary: Post war. Hermione's feelings towards Draco abruptly change when she is told her destiny is blinded with fictitious love towards Ron. And her true love lies with a certain blonde Slytherin. "Granger, don't be nervous. Just look at me and let go." He said grabbing her chin, and her brown eyes met his. DM/HG/SS ;) Warnings: Love triangles and veelas!
1. Her

**Disclaimer: I don't (sadly) own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Harry Potter fic yay! I just realized that I start writing when I get frustrated that I can't find a specific kind of fic and stuff hehe. I want you to know that this is post-war, a lot of them are doing their 7th year at Hogwarts (you'll see later why I needed this to be at Hogwarts) You'll get the drill pretty soon.**

**Alsooo! I've read the books, but man! That was like six years ago! So there are naturally things I don't remember, and although this story is not completely attached to the books (for obvious reasons), I still might add little details. So if I fail in something, please do tell me, be gentle as I don't have experience in the Harry Potter world of fanfiction. Aaaand if I have spelling or grammatical mistakes also tell me (although I'll make corrections on the first days of uploading this), if you have any comment or suggestion I'm open for them :) So that's it. Please enjoy and review :)**

* * *

**_September 1, 1998_**

She's always had long, bushy, brown hair. Over the years, she'd learned to tame, and transform it from those puffy locks into beautiful silky curls. Those hazel ringlets with a tint of gold swayed through the thin air as if it wanted to grasp eternally the sweet smell of her perfume; a combination of lavender, vanilla, pumpkin juice, and hiding in the sweet aroma, was a touch of parchment and books. Just the way she's always been.

She had thick, mysterious, natural, and somewhat soft, dark brown eyebrows. They didn't need any plucking or coloring; they were perfect. And they stood just above her eyes.

Eyes in which it was pretty easy to get lost within. Her almond shaped eyes, which held so much emotion, told stories many people wouldn't dare to see. Her dark-brown orbs shone when the light hit them, making them even brighter.

Her small, refined and somehow perky nose stood out perfectly in between her cheekbones, spread with light freckles and with a rosy glow that had a color furthermore prominent when she blushed.

Tracing down her cheekbones were her _lips_. Her lips were soft, pink, and although they were small, they formed a small heart shape on her upper lip. The strawberry colour on her lips always stood out from her oval face, as they didn't need any artificial colour to be beautiful. They looked more tempting by the minute and even more with the habit she picked over the last few years, biting her lower lip now and then. Those lips that traced that famous smile of hers. Her smile. Those who had seen her real, big, beatific smile could describe the feeling of happiness and fascination. The smile of hers that beamed and made her face look more lovely with every time she did it. A smile she reserved to show to only a handful of people.

Then there was the makeup. She didn't need any makeup or anything of the sort. Her fair skin matched perfectly with the rosy glow of her cheeks and the strawberry lips she naturally wore. Most girls envied her for that. Being blessed with a clean complexion, and with natural color was something most girls didn't have. But she did. Although, it was true that with some amount of makeup her features would stand out more, but without it, she was dazzling. It was true sometimes she would wear a soft cherry lipstick barely noticeable that made her lips even juicer; it was hard to contain oneself from kissing every bit of those lips.

Her appearance had always been tiny and gentle, she didn't eat so much it was true, but she was as healthy as any young bird could be. All the angles and curves fell into the right places. She never wore revealing clothes or anything close to it, but when she did wear a blouse with a little cleavage or a mid-high skirt, she unintentionally teased with the amount of skin and imagination she was leaving revealed. Her long, creamy legs and thin arms were excellent in proportion with the rest of her body as well as her mind, so purely brilliant harmonized with all of her.

Not that she would see herself like that.

For her, it had always been the same look; plain and boring. Her curls, although tamed, weren't as stunning or looked as bright as the hair of some of her classmates. She never wore any makeup not because she hated it or didn't need use for it, but it just didn't belong with her personality. She didn't believe she had perfect skin, far from it. The reminder of her being simple and mundane would appear when she would sometimes catch a glimpse of the faces with pure, perfect skins that appeared in "Witch Weekly" her best friend would sometimes carry around. The reminder that told her how "perfect" skin should look. Taking away what the magazine said, she'd never felt like the most lovely flower of the bunch or even beautiful. She was just plain ordinary. She didn't see herself like that.

But Draco did.

"Hermione! What are you doing with the git? I thought that you were going to share your head girl compartment with me!" An infuriated Ron Weasley cried out as he entered the head students compartment looking rather suspiciously at a certain Draco Malfoy.

"Ron, for the last time, he's not a git! He's been my friend for almost four years. Besides, the head compartments are to be shared by the Head boy and girl. It was expected for us to be here."

"Mione, my love, he's the enemy don't you see?" _Love_. Ugh. Hermione's favorite word from Ron wasn't exactly love. She just didn't feel comfortable with him using that word to refer to her.

Draco, seeing her discomfort, smirked._ Bloody bastard_. After the war, it didn't last two weeks for everyone to know that two of the Golden Trio had become a couple. Draco just winced at the thought. She was just too much for him; he was everything he hoped him to be. An idiot. He just couldn't see what she saw in him. Looks? Hardly a reason. Even though the youngest Weasel could be described at some extent attractive -Draco couldn't help but gag at the words Ron and attractive in the same sentence- his looks weren't his best trait by far. Money? _Even my aunt Andromeda, who was disowned, has more than twice the amount of money the Weasley family could ever dream of having. Intelligence? _Draco had to chuckle at his last thought. Intelligence and Ron Weasley didn't get along in the least.

"Ronald Weasley you take that back! The war is over, and that means no enemies! Besides, it was all just an awful misunderstanding!" Hermione said snapping Draco out of his thoughts, her flushed face marking the meaning of her words.

Even though Ron was her boyfriend, she wasn't going to let anyone disrespect her friends. She had become rather close with Malfoy in 4th grade, after her fight with Ron in the Yule Ball, Malfoy had taken sympathy for her and regretted the things about nobody going with her. They began a truce between them, and it was during their 5th year when they were both prefects that they got along really well (both having traits in common). Although Ron was a big obstacle in their relationship, they both managed until the war, where their relationship was stained with Draco being "one of them". Hermione felt betrayed and stopped talking to him until after he cleared things out when he told her he was under the Imperio Curse when he became a Death Eater and on the night of Dumbledore's death, it wasn't him but another Death Eater under the effects of Polyjuice potion. They resumed their friendship as if nothing happened and tried to catch on lost months, but of course, her being with Ron made things way more awkward.

"Its fine Granger, Weasley can stay. I'll check with the prefects and then see if Blaise has space in his compartment."

"Thank you, Draco."

* * *

Hermione felt like the most fortunate girl in the entire world; she finally had her own chambers, the war was over, her closest friends live to tell it, and she was with Ron. Ron… Hermione just couldn't shake the slight feeling of uneasiness that came over her when thinking about her relationship. It wasn't exactly what she'd hoped it'd be. Ron was sweet and affectionate towards her yes; but besides the lack of conversational topics she'd have liked to share with him, something was missing. She just shrugged it off.

She was walking down the Great Hall when she found Miss Trelawney wandering just outside in the corridor. Walking a bit quickier, Hermione tried to pass in front of her without being noticed. After everything she's lived, talking with her former Divination teacher wasn't in her top priorities.

"Miss Granger!" Bugger. _How_ _did_ _she_ _even recognize me?_

"Oh, Miss Trelawney! It's nice to see you here," Hermione lied with a fake smile, "Are you still going to teach in Hogwarts?" She hoped not.

"Oh my dear, well, I won't be staying here long, but maybe a term I will," She said adjusting her large glasses to look at Hermione better. "I hear you've found yourself a boyfriend?" _Wow, news travel fast_ thought Hermione.

"As a matter of fact yes I am. I'm with Ron Weasley." She smiled a little, and moved a bit forward, trying to end the conversation as soon as possible. Having to bear her classmates harass her with details about her relationship with Ron was enough for her to also endure the meddling of a teacher she didn't even like.

"Ronald? But it wasn't he who I saw in my vision." She responded, grabbing Hermione by the arm.

"Uhm… excuse me?" She asked with a frown, tilting her head to the right.

"Daniel was it? I…"

"Not again.." Whispered Hermione. She just wasn't very sure why she was always the subject of prediction with this teacher. The fact that all "predictions" the daft woman had about her always ended with her utmost miserable future. She made a face as her former professor tightened her grip on Hermione's arm and took a trance-like appearance.

"Thou who won't see yet the true eyes of love, who is blinded by false infatuation. Thou shall see soon... Your destiny is not to be with your current relationship of untrue emotions. Your true destiny lies at the side of a dear devoted friend. Thou must take away you blindfold and _see_." Miss Trelawney ended and seemed to have regained control over herself, letting go of Hermione.

"Oh sorry dear, was I babbling around again?" She asked as if nothing had happened.

"You certainly said my love for Ron wasn't authentic," Hermione remembered why she didn't like talking with this teacher. She was a nutter.

"I'm so sorry if I have disappointed you, Miss..." "-Granger. My name is Hermione Granger." Hermione said exasperated with the short-term memory the woman displayed. "But my predictions never lie, dear, was it Daniel Malroy? I really can't remember the name I saw, but I'm quite sure it had those initials, he was also certainly blonde. Oh well, there I go again. I must probably be leaving now for I have class. See you another time!"

Hermione was left dumbstruck. She just couldn't believe that after her struggle in war, a seer just told her the love of her life wasn't true love. _Bother! _She didn't believe it. _Didn't_ _the_ _end of a war_ _mean peace?_

She continued her way to the Great Hall mumbling to herself until she stomped with someone.

"Oh sorry."

"Well, you should be Granger, these shoes weren't cheap you know." Smirking above her was Draco Malfoy. Hermione looked up at him, blinking slowly and just stood there looking at him rather curiously until realisation hit her like a bludger. Blonde Draco Malfoy… Draco Malfoy...Draco Mal… D…M… blonde...!

"Oh, Dear Merlin!" Hermione was already half way towards her chamber when she heard the exclamations of the confused blonde yelling after her.

"Hermione wait!"

_This can't be._

* * *

**A/N: Please let me know if you liked this and if I should continue with the story! ;)**


	2. Him

**Disclaimer: Gosh, so great books don't deserve to be in my power.**

**A/N: So many follows! Yay! Hey guys, I've uploaded waaaaaay faster than I though I would! I feel a little bad because I have another story, and I've written this two chapters and only half of the next chapter in the other story. Anyways, I'm happy to see that you've liked it and also some other things: 1. I didn't kill off some characters (just to avoid further confusion) 2. I have so many ideas for this story 3. I hope my crazy ideas for this story are accepted 4. Àine is an Irish goddess of summer and stuff like that 5. If you have any suggestion, comment, or WHATEVER I'm open to it :) So that's all, please read and enjoy**

**P.S. If you happen to read it the very first day that I've uploaded this, you might find some spelling mistakes that I'll correct during the day :***

He'd grown a very handsome gentleman over the years. He wore his sleek, soft, long, white-blond hair that reached his neck with a little quiff in his forehead; he wore it as gracefully as any Malfoy would. His big blue grayish eyes which pierced through anyone that even dared to look at him in the eye, for the exception of few persons, or when he felt threatened were refined as always. His faced remained sharp, with pointed features that would only make him look more manly and elegant. He had arms with long and beautiful hands, gorgeous any girl would vanish with the simple thought of being merely touched by them. His back was broad, similar to that of a swimmer, with muscles that would make you tremble if you saw them. He always had his pale, light skin, although there were times when his skin was light, but with a minuscule tint of rosy gold glow in his face. He would get that very tiny attempt of a tan when on summer, he would sometimes visit his summer house in France, influenced by the decision of his mother (she _loved_ French fashion more than food). He would get the enough sun to give him that look of "being kissed by Áine". And his scent heightened his masculinity with a small trace of oak that would remind you of late Autumn. He was an eye candy to any girl that would see him, even older females that would look at him wouldn't quite believe the hot stuff that was in front of them.

He of course, knew all that.

He took advantage of it in his earlier years, enjoying the thought of making any girl swoon at his mere sight. He'd gone on many dates with many different girls, (which none lasted more than two dates) and very few snoggs. And sometimes, for the very pleasure of it, he would just wink at any passing girl to see her blush and giggle. Except for her. He couldn't quite understand it at first why she didn't have the effect of him like the others. But after seeing that all his "enchantment" was merely superficial, he started to understand her better… and to fall in love with her. Many would have sworn that he was secretly a veela, for his beautiful complexion and poise, but the Malfoy family, being pure-blooded, couldn't stand the thought of having mixed blood in the family line. And even less from something that wasn't entirely human. Those ideas, of course, weren't so prominent now.

After the war, the Malfoy family was a little bit more... accepting in relation to the other "types of blood" that there were in the world of magic. Although Draco never truly had any affliction to others who weren't pure-blooded, not after he became friends with Hermione anyway. He always felt pressured to follow his father's steps, so he was taught in the ideology of most old-fashioned pure-blooded families: if something wasn't pure-blooded, it wasn't worth to even look at. But after countless talks and different views she would give him, he finally understood how wrong his family's ideology was, and began to be more tolerant of others.

* * *

She thought in the amount of effort and time it took to finally made some sense out of him, and the enormous success that came in the end. _Finally, a powerful wizard with that mind as brilliant as his will be up to something good… Hermione stop!_ Hermione refused to believe for even a second what Miss Trelawney had just told her minutes ago. It just couldn't be! Not that Malfoy repulsed her or she thought bad about him. In fact, the more she learned about him, the more fascinated she was feeling about him… _Merlin just STOP! You have a boyfriend! And you love him!... Right?_

"UGH! This can't be happening! You've wanted this since 4th grade, and this isn't going to ruin it!" Hermione angrily whispered to herself while angry tears pricked the corner of her eyes. Why was she feeling this confused? If she defended her love for Ron as securely as she had done it in the encounter with Miss Trelawney, she should not feel so confused like she was feeling now.

"Granger? Are you inside? Why did you went running after we bumped each other?"

Hermione just froze. She couldn't deal with him right now! It was too soon! She thought that if she kept quiet maybe he would go away.

"Hermione?"

The atmosphere was silent for a few moments until Hermione heard Draco whisper _"Candy floss"_ from the other side and the sound of the door of their common room opening.

_Oh, knickers!_ Hermione totally forgot for a second that for the rest of the school year, she and Draco would have to share their common room, as they were the new head students.

Hermione made a lame attempt at hiding as Draco crossed the portrait and entered the room only to see Hermione sprawled on the rug, trying to hide behind the couch.

"Granger? Have you gone mad? Or are you just typically mental? What on Merlin's sake are you doing?"

"I.. err was looking if there weren't any pieces of leftovers on the floor. You know, the biscuits we ate yesterday are not entirely safe for Crookshanks, so I'm looking if we accidentally dropped one. I suddenly remembered so hehe…yeah," Hermione tried very hard not to blush as she was getting off the ground. She couldn't tell Draco what she'd just heard. Not until three things happened:

1\. She was positively sure it wasn't just any fake type of prediction

2\. She decided what measures she would take on the matter

3\. The day she would catch the golden snitch

"I will go for the latter. It being, you're completely mental." He chuckled as he got closer to her and removed one of her locks that was dancing in front of her face, and brushed it behind her ear. The movement caused her to blush furiously, and she backed away reflexively. She tried to speak as not to make the moment more awkward.

"Thank you. I… I'm sorry if I startled you a bit back there. I really thought we had dropped a biscuit and feared that I would return only to find a dead cat on my bed." She tried to smile. _Funny_ thought Draco, he knew her well enough to suspect she was lying. But why? Had he done something to her? He was determined to find out what was bothering that pretty head of hers. But he decided that would be later, right now he wanted to enjoy the gentle smile that was painted on her lips.

"I'm suspicious of your behaviour Granger. But I'll buy it. One can never be too careful with the things that are harmful to cats." Hermione sighed in relief. That was enough for her at the moment. She really needed to speak to Firenze, the only other one she could speak about the so-called "prediction" Miss Trelawney had, better saying the only other seer she knew.

"Have you gotten any breakfast already? I'm starving, and I don't want to arrive late to any of my classes. I don't wish to be a bad example as this year's head girl."

"Uh yes, I have. But I'll go with you if you want. I really wouldn't mind sitting for once on the Gryffindor table, not at this hour I mean. The great Hall is still pretty empty this early on the morning."

"N-no! It's fine really. I don't mind being alone. Besides I wouldn't like your reputation of "The Prince of Slytherin" to be damaged." Hermione said letting out a small laugh.

"You sure? A little gossip about me wouldn't do any harm. I can take away points from anyone I want." He said flashing that famous smile of his. Hermione couldn't avoid her heart skipping a beat when he did. _Hermione calm yourself! You just probably miss Ron._

"Yes, I'm sure. I am probably going to be absorbed reading the Daily Prophet anyway. And if we were to encounter Ron I… it wouldn't exactly be a pleasant encounter." She said half smiling.

Draco couldn't help but feel a little down when she said the name of the manky redhead. He also felt a little disappointed that she preferred the company of the weasel over his, but in the end he couldn't really blame her because he was _her _boyfriend after all, not him. If he could only steal her away from the weasel.

Draco's pensive face looked like it was important. Hermione took it as her cue to leave.

"Well, I'll be going then."

"Uh? Sorry, I was just thinking. Be careful of soulless gingers on the way!"

"Malfoy don't say those things!" Hermione half laughed as she exited the room towards the Great Hall.

* * *

Hermione was a little refreshed after her conversation with Draco. They could usually converse on almost any topic. Their interests were more-less the same (with the exception of money and power: she obviously didn't care about those things as much as he did,) and they both loved to read. She didn't actually felt any change on their relationship after the "prediction". Yes, she felt a little "confused" as she puts it when he put her lock behind her ear but besides that, she just felt the usual flow of events in their friendly relationship. Hermione remembered in her 6th year when things with Draco went from better to worse in just a matter of months. She decided to shrug the feeling off, as her memories of that year were very irregular. Although her good memories were some of her best, there were far more of bad memories, so her 6th year wasn't exactly the best year for her.

She reached the Great Hall and saw that Harry, Ron, and Ginny were already munching on their breakfast. She smiled happily as she approach them.

"How's our head girl doing in her first week of school? I bet you've already caught 4rd years snogging in the halls." Her best friend greeted her finishing with an "ew" expression on her face.

"Hi! And no, let's just wait for that never to happen. I'm so excited that we're in the same year Ginny! Although I hate to be one year behind, I'm glad we'll be in the same classes this year." After the war both professors, Snape and McGonagall, decided to merge both 7th years and the ones who lost their last year due to the war (like the golden trio) into making it a single group. As there weren't many students in those years, they decided to do it to help students with their N.E.W.T s and encourage all of them to finish their studies. As well as deciding on having a shared roll being headmasters until they decided who would be the permanent one (it was easier for them, as they both could still give classes).

"Me too! I'm really happy I will see you guys in classes, more time to hug Harry." She said looking dreamily at her as he did the same. Ron just scoffed at them and continued munching on his sausage.

"I think I'll vomit from the amount of sweetness you two are generating," Ron said with the mouth half-full. Hermione couldn't help but feel a little sad hearing that from Ron. It's not like she would like a cheesy, corny relationship. But she longed for someone to look at her the way Harry did to Ginny. She just didn't feel the same level of passion when Ron looked at her. Maybe it was more lust? _You're just imagining things_ she thought to herself.

"Ron, you can't say that after on 6th year you spent it snogging with Lav-Lav _everywhere,_" Harry said in defense. Ginny just gave him a nudge on his stomach as a way of saying, shut up.

"Oh, sorry 'Mione, I didn't mean to…"

"No Harry its fine, really. I don't care about those things anymore." She said smiling. She meant it. Before, the mere thought of it made her cry but now, strangely enough, it didn't bother her anymore. She thought of it as a sign of maturity.

"Ok... and how has your week living with Malfoy been?"

"Yeah, I bet living with the ferret is horrible. You know 'Mione, you can change rooms, you just need to tell McGonagall." Ron added.

"No, I don't mind living having the same common room as him, we are relatively close friends. So no need to worry." Hermione smiled. She could see a faint flash of jealousy that passed through Ron's face. She just ignored it.

"I don't exactly trust the ferret love, but if you say he doesn't bite then, I'll trust you. Hey, what's your password then?" Ron said then whispered to her "So I can visit you at any time." He winked. She felt a shiver go down to her spine. _Do I really want him to visit?_ She gave herself an internal slap _Yes silly; he IS your boyfriend. You should be glad he said it._

"Erm, hey Harry, Ginny... Ron, my password is _Candy__ floss_, if you ever need anything or there's an emergency, you know where my common room is."

"Candy floss? That's a pretty funny name for your password" The redhead girl said with a bemused expression.

"Well, it was the only candy Draco and I loved the same and agreed it had the perfect combination of everything. So we decided to name the password Candy floss." _Draco_. Hermione cursed herself as she remembered how Ron hated when she used his first name. Se tried to quickly cover it up by changing the topic.

"But that doesn't matter. How's your week been? Have all of you entered the Quidditch team this year?" She felt relief wash over her as Ron's face calmed down a bit.

They continued their meal normally, talking about Quidditch (much to Hermione's dismay), the horror of having exams AGAIN, and their feeling of being "locked-up" after almost a year of spending it in the forest all alone. But Hermione couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. It didn't bother her at the beginning; she had felt it since last week when school started, but it was a constant feeling she had on the day. She felt like two piercing eyes would bore into her and penetrate her very soul, looking at all her secrets.

* * *

Hermione continued her day as regularly as she could and tried to ignore the feeling, but she couldn't avoid those pressing eyes on her.

She would suddenly turn her head to see if someone was there and.. nothing. Hermione was starting to think that maybe Draco was right. She was mental. She tried to shrug it off, as it would sometimes subside and go. But in the end she felt the pressing eyes on her.

At the end of her day, after returning from the library, far later than the curfew, she felt those eyes again. She was aware of that when passing through the halls at the castle, and before she could blink, she suddenly turned and saw a shadow submerging in the darkness of the night.

_Who was that?_

**A/N: Love/Hate it?**

**And who could that be? :O**


	3. Veelas and confusing answers

**A/N: Hey guys! I've finally uploaded chapter 3! I'm so happy about this story, I don't know :) I wanted you to know that the first paragraphs are about veelas. From everything harry potter has said about them and every story of veelas (apart from some of my inventions) I've put that information here. You'll later see why (You don't have necessarily to read the Veela part, if you want just skip it, it's only for future reference in next chapters). ****Alsoooooo this is a way longer chapter than the last 2! I was really inspired and I seriously thought about dividing it into 2 chapters, but I thought it would damage the continuity. Soooo here's the chapter, I want to thank all of your reviews and LanaLee1 for pointing out important mistakes in my previous chapters, you know I'll accept ANY kind of feedback yay! Enjoy, keep reading and review ;)**

_Chapter 17 –Veelas and their characteristics_

_A veela is a mythical, nymph-like, semi-human creature who possess great power, as well as beauty. Often being of the feminine gender, it is not so uncommon to find a full-blooded male veela in the wilderness. Veelas are often found in swamps, lakes, prairies or places with a body of water near. They are widely spread throughout the magic world, as there are veelas from all types of nationalities. Although it is important to identify, veelas are more prone to live in Europe, most notably in the northern parts._

_A veela consist in two existing forms. Differing from an animagus, a veela, will only transform from being human to a flying creature. It being either a beast alike a Harpie or a Hippogriff (it depends on the level of magic and blood a veela possess). A veela will not transform until it has reached the age of maturity, or when its mate is in a state of danger. The steps of the transformation go in the following order:_

_1\. The eyes of the veela will turn bright obsidian, they will take out their fangs, and their skin will turn into a faint greyish colour._

_2\. Then, they will extend and grow a pair of black wings on their back that'll reach the ground._

_3\. They will grow claws and will become stronger._

_4\. They will fully transform into a flying creature, it being either a Hippogriff or a Harpie_

_There are cases though, where a veela will not reach longer than step two. Mainly this is because a veela who can't fully transform is not a full-blooded veela or does not have ¾ of veela blood in them. Of course, there are exceptions from half-veelas who possess the enough magic to transform entirely. A human with only ¼ of veela blood, will not transform beyond step 2 regardless of how much magic they possess. Anyone with less amount of veela blood in them will not go beyond step 1. _

_The obsidian eyes a veela will manifest depending on their emotions. The most prominent been arousal and anger._

_A veela possess a pair of fangs, also like the transformation, a veela will not develop their fangs until they've reached the age of maturity. Fangs for a veela are imperative; they are useful for them as self-defense, as well as a necessity in order to mark their mate and bond with them._

_Veelas, although they can eat human food will have the need from time to time of drink blood (once every three months). If a veela has found its mate, it doesn't represent any threat as they will occasionally feed on its mate only (it has been proved that it is beneficial for both of them). If a veela hasn't found its mate, it can become very dangerous as there have been numerous cases of wizards being killed by a veela. It is noted, animal blood will do, but veelas who live in the wilderness are more prone to drink human blood. Veela venom can be fatal for anyone besides their mate*. In most cases, a person who has been bit will die in a 2-week period. Even though there is no cure, there have been cases of wizards and witches having survived a veela bite, with the only consequence of being transformed themselves into a full-blooded veela. There are charms that repel veelas from attacking humans, as in most cases they are attracted to sweet odors._

_*Note that, even though, a veela passes its venom into its mate, if the mate isn't a veela, the person will not transform into one._

_In human form, a veela can be an exquisite creature, this is merely to attract more quickly their mate (The sharp looks of a veela also depend on their amount of blood)._

_A veela will start showing signs of becoming a full veela (more beautiful complexion, stronger, heightened senses, etc.) when it has either reached the age of maturity or found their mate._

_The typical* physical traits of a veela in human form are:_

_Tall and Slender bodies_

_Fair skin_

_Blonde-white hair _

_Blue eyes_

_Beautiful complexion_

_*Of course, not all veelas possess these traits. There are veelas with a different colour of skin, hair and eyes._

_Having great power in their might, the most characteristic trait of a veela is its beauty and their power to attract the opposite gender with its pheromones and magic. A veela can control their pheromones to an extent when dealing with their mate, as the veela can sometimes decide if it wants to release them. Dancing is a tradition that has been carried out by veela families through centuries. It is more commonly for a female veela to dance for attracting their mate. Although nowadays most veelas live very similar as wizards do, there are still veelas who live in the wild and carry on with their ancient traditions of magic, having almost to no contact with today's society._

_Veelas are the most human-like creature from all the beasts, as they can also, reproduce with humans. It hasn't been proved if a veela can reproduce with a Muggle, but it is very common for a veela to reproduce with a wizard or witch as their magic is compatible._

_The mate is very, if not the most important thing to a veela. A veela does not choose who its mate is, as a veela's mate can differ from it in social and cultural aspects; the mate can also vary in the age difference of the veela. It is very rare for a veela to have a mate of the same sex, as the bond is not only spiritual but also magical. In the sense that the veela will reproduce at some point with their mate._

_A veela will recognize its mate with either of the five senses. Once a veela has found their mate it must bond with them before a lapse of 1 year, for else, the veela will die of a broken heart. If they haven't found their mate by the age of 25, they will also die*. Veela's mate are chosen in accordance with the necessity of the veela and the mate themselves, thus making them "soulmates". It is the age of maturity when a veela recognizes their mate even though they have met before, and begin its transformation towards becoming a full veela. They will become very possessive of them, and will do anything to ensure the safety and happiness of their mate._

_It is very important that a veela's mate agrees with the bonding. A veela's bite is not sufficient for the bond, if the mate does not mark them too, the bonding will be incomplete. And if the mate rejects the veela and doesn't mark them before the deadline, the veela's future is predictable._

_*This only applies to full-blooded veelas and persons with ¾ of veela blood. A half-blooded veela, if it has found its mate, will have up to 2 years to bond before dying of a broken heart if their veela blood becomes active. A person with ¼ and less, won't have the necessity as high as the others as to find a mate, but will live a shorter life because of not having a mate. If a person with ¼ of veela blood does find its mate, they will have up to 15 years to bond. There have been cases of veelas who've lived longer lives, but with poorer health. Persons with less amount of veela blood in them will not have a mate._

_It is very important to note that half veelas and 1/4 veelas will not necessarily have their veela blood and magic "active": It is possible for a half-blood veela and 1/4 veela for their blood to remain dormant for their whole lives._

Draco could barely keep his eyes open for most of the today's lesson of DADA. He thought this was the most boring lesson he's ever had on this course. He'd never liked mythical creatures much, and today even less. Why would he want to know about _Veelas_ and how pathetic they were at surviving at the dependency of another being? _Such a waste of magic. If they were as "powerful" as it said, then why haven't they invented something to stop dying of heartbreak if they didn't bond with their mate?_ Draco couldn't believe why they must teach such a dull matter for today's class. From the corner of his eye, he could see Potter, also trying his best not to fall asleep in the class. _Bullocks_ he cursed internally. Today's DADA lesson had to be reduced into a reading of magical creatures being that, in last period most of the classmates had passed out with their potions. The only few who didn't (Draco, Harry, Ginny, Michael, Blaise, Luna and Hermione), were sent to the Dark Arts class while the others were at the Hospital Wing. As the number of students was relatively small, the class was purely derived from the books, so today's class was Veelas. _I can't believe this_ Draco thought. Such "effort" to pass the N.E.W.T.s and here were they, learning about the cheesy version of a vampire. Draco could see the only two girls who were putting attention to the class were Hermione (how unusual) and Luna. Draco shook his head and tried to put the little attention to what he had inside towards the class. He was very grateful the weasel wasn't here pestering around, but at the same time he couldn't flirt with Hermione as she _did_ put all of her attention to her classes. He decided to send her a magic drawing that flew over her desk.

Hermione caught a little flying paper bird that flew to her desk from Draco's. _Thank Merlin, the teacher, has his eyes glued to the book. _Hermione took the fragile bird in her hands and saw it had something on its inside. She carefully opened and saw a moving drawing painted over it. It had a big, ugly animal on it; _it must be the professor_, a group of sleeping animals and a small otter, looking at the animal with interest. Resembling how Hermione was the only one who paid attention to this class. She looked at Draco with a face that read _Really?_ She silently laughed, and she continued paying attention to the class.

She wasn't a fan of mythical creatures, but she thought of veelas with fascination up to an extent. She looked at them both with a feeling of sorrow and attraction. Sorrow because she thought it was very tragic their dark future if they didn't bond with their mate and attraction because they would always feel what true love felt like. Or so she thought. There was also the thing with the magic and the amount of veela blood. Those played an important role too. _True love… will I find it someday?_ Hermione shook her head realising what she just had thought _Hush Hermione! The prediction was undoubtedly meant only to confuse you, nothing more._ Hermione sighed as she remembered tomorrow she had an appointment with Firenze. She had managed to ask McGonagall to contact him and reserve her an appointment without asking her reasons. She just made the excuse that she was doing some research and Miss Trelawney (even though being the descendant of one of the most acclaimed seers in the wizarding world) was a little shifty.

Hermione picked up her things at the end of the class when Draco lightly grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing in your next period? I remembered you wanted to go for a walk near the lake the other day." _He remembered._

"Oh, I would so very much like that, but… I was planning to go and visit Ron at the Hospital Wing. I'm going to check on him. To see if he's alright" Draco winced a little when she said that, but Hermione didn't notice. He knew they were going through some trouble now, and since school started he'd already witnessed three fights, and it wasn't even October… Looks like they've already made up…again.

"Very well, I will then walk near the lake and cry because the Gryffindor Princess could not accompany me." Draco said flinging a tear falling his cheek.

"Draco! Stop joking around!" She said laughing as she hit him lightly with her book. "It's not like I'm going to take forever, besides, we can go walk any other time!

_But I was only half joking…_

"I would very much like to accompany you to the Hospital Wing Hermione." The young witch interrupted Draco's thoughts.

"Of course Luna, I was just going to leave. See you Malfoy."

"See you.." Draco couldn't help but feel a little down after his conversation with Granger.

* * *

"I do like helping Mdme. Pomfrey these days. I was asked to help during the war, and now it has become a habit of sorts to me. It keeps me entertained, besides the fact that I can keep the nargles away." Luna said happily as she and Hermione were walking towards the Hospital Wing.

"I can believe you," Hermione said distractedly.

"I can sense there is a strong level of disconformity going on in your life Hermione. Could it be that something that is happening right now is keeping you awake at nights?" _She knows how to read the people too well for my liking, _though Hermione, _but I'm glad she's concerned._

"Luna… Do you believe in destiny?"

"Destiny? Well, although I've already had some thought about it, I wouldn't know. I could say that I may believe in it. For what I think that everybody's here for a reason. There's also the prophecies each one of us has. So if that's destiny then yes."

"I… Would you believe then in a destiny that it would be supposed to be the right one for you, but it's hard to accept?"

"I would say yes, although I think it would be wiser to ask Harry about it. He knows everything about destiny and prophecies. After all, his life and the life of many depended on one."

"I know, and I also know that there are prophecies for each one of us but… Let's say it wasn't a prophecy _that _important in the world of magic. What if.. it was more personal? What would you say when you thought you've finally gotten the sweet that best suit your palate, and you thought there wasn't a better sweet in the world. But then someone, who says they already know your future tells you your favourite sweet is another one." Hermione finished with a little-exasperated tone, viewing it was the only way she could explain her situation.

"I believe that is your current situation yes?" She said as they reached the Hospital Wing.

"I…" "Oh Miss Lovegood, good to see you again. You could start by deliver this tonic to that first year over there." Mdme. Pomfrey said, cutting-off Hermione as she gave a tray with a bottle and a cup to Luna. "And you Miss Granger, I suppose you've come to visit?"

"See you later Hermione." Luna said with a smile. She waved.

"Oh yes, could you tell me where Ron Weasley is please?"

"He is at the far end dear. He's much better now I must say."

"Thank Merlin," Hermione said as she walked towards Ron.

He was half seated on the bed, with red eyes and pale skin. He was drinking something from a cup _Must be the tonic._ She thought

"How are you doing?" She asked getting near him and taking his hand in hers.

"Uhm.. better I think? I'm a little dozy now; I think it was the tonic but, blimey! Almost the whole group fell to the ground! How was DADA by the way?"

"Snape did warn us not to get too close to the cauldron for it is a very common side effect. And we didn't see much. Since many of you were here, we only read chapters of the book _Magical Creatures._ We saw Veelas."

"Oh really?" Ron was getting now a little less interested in her conversation.

"Yes, I hadn't read about them before. They're quite fascinating…and tragic. You see, I thought that a Veela would only have to find their mate, but I never knew they would die of a broken heart if they didn't! And the power is so … are you even listing to me?" She could see Ron's span of attention had expired, for he started to look like he was daydreaming.

"Ron!" she said shaking him.

"What was that? I'm sorry, but you know those things are not really in my interest.." She sighed. She felt a little sorry she didn't go for a walk with Draco.

* * *

Hermione walked into the green outsides of Hogwarts. She was supposed to meet Firenze in a small part with rocks near Hagrid's cabin. McGonagall told her he would meet her at four past thirty, so there she was, punctual as it usual for her.

At exactly four past thirty, she saw A dark creature approach her from the forest. She saw the tall, majestic centaur getting close to her while the air blew in their direction.

"Good afternoon Professor." She greeted and bowed a little bit.

"Please child, I am no longer a professor here at Hogwarts. You can call me Firenze."

"Firenze. I am Hermione Granger, I don't know if McGonagall told you it was me who wanted to speak to you."

"The friend of Harry Potter I see. No, she only told me it was one of her best students." Hermione blushes a little at the remark. "Now, I don't have a lot of time, for I must return to my colony before my own know about my whereabouts. Now if I can be of any service to you, what can I help you with?"

"Yes indeed. The reason I wanted to seek help from you is that a few days ago, I received unusual news. And though I wasn't completely distraught, it did make me uneasy. It was about my future." She chuckled a little.

"I know this would sound very much like a typical teenager with her pesky problems but, I do feel the decisions I will make about the matter may completely change my life in the future. And it's not that I'm afraid of it, well maybe a tad, but what I meant to say is," Hermione said after seeing she was rambling "I have boyfriend right know, Ron Weasley, and I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him, and that I loved him. But Miss Trelawney gave me this "prediction" of hers, saying my love for him isn't authentic, and I will end up with Draco Malfoy because it's my destiny and my way through happiness. And I am really confused right know about my feelings, because I don't know if her prediction was accurate, or if my feelings for Draco have changed, and… and.. I don't know anymore!" She said in frustration. She sighed. "I came to you because I don't know anybody else who can help me." She said with more calm. "Its not something you can just find in books."

"Hmmm, you are correct in that." He said pensively " But don't look so dejected on the matter, there's no need to worry yourself. Did you know seers can look into the memories of others by touching them?"

"Yes sir, I did know that."

"Give me your hand child. I will see into your past and future and hope to give you a more precise answer." She nodded and gave him her hand as he closed his eyes. He grasped it with both hands as a faint white light emerged from his hands. She felt tiny voices around her and heard the voices of her memories. Then, she heard nothing when a golden light, replacing the white one emerged from his hands. She heard nothing. _He must be seeing the prediction Miss Trelawney saw._ Firenze looked at her memories of the past weeks. All the fights, the awkward moments, the laughs she'd shared with the young boys passed through his eyes. Then, he saw what Sybill had seen in her future. He indeed, saw the same thing as her. They stood her several moments until he opened his eyes and let go of her hand.

"What did you see?" She asked expectantly

"Well Miss Granger, I must say Miss Trelawney was undeniably correct, regarding her prediction about yourself. I don't want to intervene in your personal affairs but, I did saw you far more happy with Mr. Malfoy than your current relationship with Mr. Weasley." Hermione was left speechless. The idea of _loving_ Draco, surprisingly enough, didn't bother her. What _did_ bother her was the fact that now her mind was playing tricks on her by making her believe she loves Ron. _If I don't supposedly love him, did I ever?_ She began to hyperventilate mentally as she thought of all the times her mind decieved her. Firenze, seeing her distress told her,

"Don't crush yourself child. I'm sure you do love Mr. Weasley, only in a different manner, a fraternal one. The prediction said that you have to remove your blindfold and _see_ the love your blind eyes will not let you. Your are most probably confusing the type of love you hold towards Mr. Weasley into believing it's a romantic one."

Hermione nodded her head.

"Yeah, I-I'm very grateful for your aid sir. It has actually helped me." She said smiling.

"It was a pleasure helping you. I sometimes need some fresh air from my colony. Goodbye Miss, and send my greetings to McGonagall."

"I will surely."

* * *

Hermione sat in her Transfiguration class as the thought in the events of the day before. _Could I trust Firenze? I mean- there can't be two seers with the same wrong prediction can't they?_ She sighed. _Not all prophecies become reality… maybe if I.. no, it's not possible._ She knew that if she forced things it wouldn't be a real relationship. She still wanted to give her relationship with Ron a go, the thought it wasn't fair for them to just abandon the deal. _I can't just leave him_

Draco sat few desks behind her, watching her. She's been more reserved with him these last few days. And even though he'd tried to see if she was doing something secretive or something of the sort that would explain her attitude towards him, he was always left empty handed. _Maybe that red berk forbid her from speaking to me. I hope not. _

Both witch and wizard were so deep in thought, they didn't see the headmaster come into the room. She had the enormous gramophone; she had brought when rehearsing for the Yule Ball. They both got startled by it

"My dear 7th graders, seeing this is your last year here at Hogwarts, and we've just won one of the most important wars in the magic realm. I am glad to announce that we'll be having a Christmas ball. This ball is a mere celebration from the school to every single one who fought with bravery at the war." Everyone gasped at the idea. The room was full of exciting yelps and murmurs. She cleared her throat and continued, "I've had the idea that since many of you haven't improved in the area of dancing. I'm hoping that this particular class will refresh your minds a little bit about dancing as well as sharpen your skill at Transfiguration. What I want you to do is, choose a partner, male or female, and while you are dancing whichever style you prefer, I want you to transfigure the objects that are around you. Now, I must tell you, to get a good grade you must not stumble or get a transfiguration wrong. Am I clear? Good. Now who'll be our first participants?"

_Please don't pick me, please don't pick me, please don't pick.._ "Miss Granger! Why don't you make the honours, being the head student after all." Hermione reluctantly moved from her desk to the center of the room, were several tables were moved in order to make space, and several random objects were sprawled over the floor.

"If you please choose a partner." Hermione's eyes shot directly towards Draco. _Don't be a nutter, Ron is your boyfriend. _

"Ron," She said looking at him "Here, let's do the exercise," She said smiling.

"Uhh, 'Mione as much as I would like to, I don't. Don't make me do this, I loath dancing." He muttered so that McGonagall didn't hear them. Hermione's disappointment was evident in her face. She tried to hide it but was unsuccessful. She suddenly felt her hand being grabbed, and she turned only to see Draco Malfoy grinning at her.

"May I have this dance?" He asked in an exaggerated tone. She didn't think twice when she said. "Yes, you may".

As soon as they both started dancing, music began to play. It was a melodic, classical music but with a modern touch. She was a little stiff in the beginning, not wanting to get too close to him.

"Granger, I know you've been avoiding me this past few days." He whispered to her, "But I want you to try and let _go."_ Hermione remembered that day in her 6th grade when she saw Ron snogging with Lavender very enthusiastically in the Gryffindor common room after the Quidditch game.

_Hermione couldn't believe it. She'd thought she had tried every single thing to attract Ron's attention. She'd thrown at him several indirects about her feelings, she'd invited him to Slughorn's Christmas party (although he rejected her), and she'd even wore a little makeup to make her "prettier" every other day. It seemed it hadn't worked out._

_Draco was the one who almost immediately knew about the weasel and the stupid blond girl. They were pretty much bloody snogging in every corner of the castle. Right after he saw them, the day after, his first thoughts were __Hermione!__ And he spent the day looking after her._

_After Quidditch practise (they hadn't done much) he found her sitting at near the Black Lake, looking like she'd just cried her eyes out._

"_Hermione? Are you okay?"_

"_Oh, Draco. Yes, I'm quite alright thank you. I must be really leaving now, I don't want to to be late in the night in here." She said avoiding his eyes._

"_Granger, it's barely 2 o'clock, it's a Saturday, and no you're not alright." He said getting closer to her and grabbing her chin with his gloveless hand._

"_I knew you liked him" He could see fresh tears adorn her lovely face of hers._

"_He's a prat you know?" "Why?"_

"_For being with a girl who is far below our dear Gryffindor Princess." He said with a smile._

"_Malfoy…don't joke around," She said stepping a little bit backward and chuckling a bit. "I really do believe she's far prettier than me… "Come here" He said cutting her off._

"_Uh? Where are going?" "For a ride," He said jumping into his broom._

"_Draco you know how I feel about flying…" "Just shush it and hop in."_

_Hermione had her eyes closed when they took off and strongly grasped Draco's waist with her hands. She really hated flying. If she could avoid it, she would at any time, she much preferred apparating._

_Draco felt Hermione's tense body by the way she was crushing him and her shattering teeth. He decided to go a little bit higher so that the wind could wash away her tears._

"_Hermione, listen to me. I know you hate flying, but I recommend you to open your eyes. Don't fear the moment, live it. Just open your eyes and let go. You'll see how beautiful the view is up here, and you'll gain a little peace in yourself." Hermione slowly opened her eyes as she saw the Black Lake under them and could see the beautiful horizon as the sun was setting. She loosened a little bit her grasp on Draco as she laughed at how free and secure she felt with Draco's presence._

"_You see? You just have to open your eyes and see."_

They began dancing to the rhythm of the music as they began transfigurating the objects. They were both laughing and not caring about anybody else in the room.

She saw his beaming smile as he looked at her. She blushed a little and turned, transfigurating an object in the way_. Have I had my eyes closed all this time?_ She turned and saw he was still looking at her while transfigurating an object perfectly without looking right at it. She laughed. She was indeed having a good laugh with this exercise. There was a part of the song when they both got closer and were turning around looking at each other. _Maybe the idea of falling in love with him is not that bad…_ They continued dancing until someone jerked her off Draco.

"Well, I believe that has been a lot of dancing and laughing for a day." A furious Weasley said dragging Hermione off and facing Malfoy.

"Well, weasel, it's not my fault you're not making _your_ girlfriend happy." That was it. Ron threw a punch at Drac's direction, but he stopped it with his hand. "Shut up you ferret" he spat.

"But we were having such fun." He said smirking while they were both struggling. Ron just got more enraged and tried to punch him once more.

"That's it! I can't believe you two young men. I was hoping you would be a little more mature, even more that you're the oldest students." McGonagall said, interrupting the almost fight. Hermione, being at the center of the room, was speechless

"If you can't behave then I recommend you to get out of the classroom." Seeing that neither of the boys responded she just sighed and said,

"Just sit at the two corners of the room until after the class has ended. And no more fighting." she said with menacing eyes. Hermione just saw as every single pair of eyes was now on her. _Merlin, please help me._

* * *

He'd been watching over her since school has started. He never had any hopes of his veela blood to become active, and he'd never had any hopes of finding her mate ever in his life. And even less in the most unexpected place on Earth: Hogwarts. He recognized her scent on the very first day when she passed, and he couldn't keep his head straight with that intoxicating smell of hers. _Hermione…_ At first he couldn't believe, that such witch would be his mate. He of course, couldn't do anything about the matter. She was with Ron. That bleeder, Gryffindor boy was in his way. He couldn't just pop in and take her away in his arms. Well, he didn't have the enough confidence, besides to the point that it would probably be against her will, and that would make her unhappy. He cursed himself day after day when every single moment of it, he'd spend thinking of her. So he began following her. He knew, after some time that she'd been suspecting that someone was following her. He couldn't tell her just yet who he was, she would probably be disgusted by him and would flee from him forever. _If he could just make her closer to him…_

**A/N: You see, I'm sorry if the veela thing was WAY OVER THE TOP, but the other major character of the story is a something veela BUT don't you worry my readers about HG/DM, they will be just fine :) So I saw this necessary, I PROMISE I won't do it agaaain (There's still a little bit more of info but I'll make sure to break it up a lot)! Oh, and you probably know who the other one is, but I'll keep it a secret just a little bit more... heheheh. Hope you've enjoyed it and review ;)**


	4. Secret admirer or?

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry I didn't upload last week. I was hoping to upload this chapter on Friday, but I had to finish first a chapter from another story so... I'm uploading today. Thank you very much for your reviews, feedback and I want to tell you guys I won't be posting probably before 2 weeks from now because...finals *cries*. I wanted to upload then this chapter on this Friday, but finals won't let me, so I've wanted to give you this chapter before and I wouldn't be late on my uploads. Also, I don't have a beta and because I have to study, I won't be able to immediately spot any grammar or spelling mistakes for the next few days, so if you see anything please tell me :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, continue reading it, and send me any type of feedback!**

**P.S For my veela details (necklace) I got inspiration from past work of Imwaiting4myAliceandEdward.  :3**

**Enjoy :***

* * *

It had started with her smell. Her perfume. That sweet scent that was the true signature of her presence in any room. The combination of lavender, vanilla and a tingle of pumpkin, penetrated his nostrils and filled his mind and thoughts of her. Every time he entered a room or an area with her in it, he couldn't ignore her presence at all. _He couldn't even turn his head away from her anymore_. He was beginning to have trouble not only in his sleep but also in his concentration during the day. She filled every room she would enter with a mouth watering, intoxicating scent. Of course, only _he _was capable of perceiving her scent as strong as if he was hiding his face on her brown curls. _Curse this part veela of me! _He wanted to regret it. Wanted to take away this "curse" which only enslaved him to the witty nymph. But he knew he couldn't. Not after the first time he knew she was his mate.

_It was September 1__st__, the day when Hogwarts' term starts. Over the summer, he'd removed the amber pendant he'd always wore under his robes since little after his seventeenth birthday, hiding his veela inheritance. His mother had told him he was ¼ veela, his great-grandfather from his mother's side, being a full blooded veela. She'd then told him his great-grandfather had been bitten by one, and that's how he chose his great-grandmother. His mother was a half veela, but her blood was inactive, dormant; so she didn't develop any veela powers or had a mate whatsoever. She was just a plain, "pureblood" witch. It was then, on his 17__th__ birthday when the little amount of veela blood on him began awakening. _

_"There are those who are born unfortunate even though they haven't wronged. I was hoping, given the quantity of your veela inheritance is low, the gene would've stayed dormant in you. I am sorry my child. I believe your life will be much shorter now if you do not find your mate." She'd told him. He'd new everything about veelas by then. Magical Creatures wasn't his favourite subject, but his family had indulged him into every single detail known about veelas. __Mate? Me? Sod real love, there is none for me! __He'd thought. He didn't feel loved. He couldn't be. He was cursed, and for what he knew, love wasn't meant for him. "If my life's to be shorter, so be it!" He'd angrily shouted at his mother as he stormed out into the rain, desperately looking for __something__ that could prevent his veela blood from awakening any further._

He looked at the amber pendant that laid in his nightstand drawer. _I don't need this anymore. _He remembered grimly at the memories of the sad expression on his mother and the hard face of his uncle. He gave him the pendant magically charmed, lessening his veela powers from emerging as well as suppressing his ability to find his mate, making his life a little longer on the way. He'd wore it over the years almost every single moment (even when asleep) dreading he would find his mate, only to be left heartbroken (again) and die alone in the end. He much preferred only to die alone. Over the summer, he realized the prospects of ever finding his mate were almost null, feeling the necessity of wearing the amber pendant was no longer needed. He pretty much lost any hope of ever finding a mate. That's what he'd thought until he smelled _her. _At first, when he smelled her in the Great Hall the first night, he couldn't stand it. He had to excuse himself and fled towards his chambers to escape the overwhelming, intoxicating scent. He knew it was his mate. I must be. He felt his blood boiling in his veins and his senses sharpening, seeing his eyes had turned a metallic black on the mirror. _I'm damned. _

He'd spent the next few days, having the pendant on and off, searching who was his mystery girl. Until one night near the library, he smelled the beautiful aroma of lavender. It was _her. _He hid in the shadows and silently followed the scent until he reached the source. He almost passed out when he finally found out who his mate was.

* * *

Hermione sat on the edge of her bed dreading to go out of her room. She'd been avoiding both Draco and Ron for the past two days, and she wasn't ready to face the show. Or rather face _them_. She just slipped away after the scene Draco and Ron had put in there. She knew, of course, that everyone would be asking her and talking about it. _Are you secretly seeing Draco? Have you broken up with Ron? Have you heard Hermione has two wizards after her? The Slytherin prince with the Gryffindor princess? _She just couldn't stand it. She decided she would spent the rest of her day reading in the peacefulness of her room.

After 9 hours of staying inside her room, she began to feel hungry. Sometimes when she read her books, she would forget about everything else and just immerse herself in them. But it was already 5 o'clock, and she hadn't eaten since 7 in the morning. She tried to see under the crack of her door if Draco wasn't anywhere near, to go out and grab something to eat. She slipped off her shoes and tried to be as quiet as she could. She didn't know if Malfoy was in his dorm and she didn't want to know. She went down the stairs and silently went to their common room towards the door. She accidentally stumbled with a bureau placed in between 2 armchairs and let out an involuntarily "Ouch" before dropping one of her shoes she was holding. She cursed herself and prayed the blonde boy didn't hear her. She successfully continued her way to the main door and by the time her hand reached the doorknob…

"You know there are silent spells and charms you could've used if you didn't want to get caught right?" She could almost _feel_ the smirk forming on the face of the blonde boy. _Why on earth didn't I think of that before?_ She turned so very slowly and looked up to see he was at his door.

"I-I thought you might be asleep and I didn't want to intrude you. Besides, I didn't think a Muffliato would be needed." She then proceeded to put on her shoes, as now her little attempt to escape unseen was a failure.

"For being the brightest witch of our generation, you really should've thought about it before, Granger." He smirked. "But anyways, you've been avoiding me. And I've realized that you also have been avoiding the red twat," he said taking a more serious tone.

"I-I-I haven't! You imagine things! I just… I have been tired lately, and we must study for N.E.W.T.s, so I'm just using my spare time to study and catch up reading. That's all." She hoped her lying skills had improved after their capture with the Death Eaters. She convinced them for a moment she was someone she wasn't. So why wouldn't it work this time, over something so silly? She guessed the grin that began creeping into his mouth said she wasn't made for lying. Trying to hide her blushing face from him she turned around and decided she would go instead to the library.

"If there's nothing else to say, then I'm off to the library." She tried to put a tough face and reached the door knob when her stomach rumblings gave her away. _Oh, Bugger! Just in time! _She thought sarcastically.

"Oh really, the library? Granger I heard your stomach up to here, you're not fooling anybody with that "tough" look in your face." He went down the stairs and moved closer to her.

"And don't give me that "spare time" speech." He said before she could retort. "Besides the fact N.E.W.T.s are months away, you sit the furthest away from everyone in class, practically run after classes towards Merlin knows where, and hide when we do find you. Over the past two days, no one has seen your presence. Not even I, who is sharing the common room with you. You've also skipped meals, and it's not healthy Granger. So, stop saying "that's all" when it clearly isn't." he didn't realize he had her almost caught against the wall. He could see how close her lips were. Plumped and rosy. She bit her lip as she always did when nervous. _I've known you long enough to guess I was right, but Merlin Granger stop doing that! It's so tempting_! He mentally fought the urge to kiss her right there on the spot. _Calm yourself. You're a Malfoy, and not only you're a gentleman; this is not the time! _She looked up at him and the locked eyes. Brown and Blue. They stared at each other's eyes for a few moments, taking in all of their windows of the souls could give, enchanting them with mutual attraction. The both leaned in a little and before anything could happen. Hermione snapped into reality. _I don't know how many times must I repeat it to you. You. Have. A. Boyfriend! _Meanwhile, he thought… _I was SO close! Why must she always do the right thing of snapping away from our little world? Little World? _Now he was becoming cheesy.

She looked down, breaking eye contact. "I'm sorry, I haven't been honest with you. I think what happened the other day was just too much for me. I don't like gossip about me, and even though I know I shouldn't care, it still creeps its way through me and makes me anxious. I'm still mad at you" she said with piercing eyes. "and Ronald. You both acted like children!" She said breaking off the awkward situation hitting him in the arm. "Although I guess I'm madder at him. He didn't respond when I asked him to dance with me. You could say he started it." She said with a gloomy face.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You got saved just in time by the Slytherin prince." He flashed a smile at her. "I wouldn't want anything bad happen to you." He could already see her smile one again. He enjoyed her smile very much. HE found out more and more he wanted to do it more constantly.

She was about to respond when they both heard her stomach rumble once more.

"Come, I'll accompany you to grab something to eat. I wouldn't like my bushy bookworm to pass out from lack of food." _His bushy bookworm?_ Hermione made no attempt at questioning him, but the thought lingered on her mind.

* * *

Hermione sat next to Ginny at her potions class and gave Harry an apologetic look with a wave of her hand. She didn't feel like talking to Ron right now, and she felt even less like sitting next to Draco. She could already feel the judging looks from the others in the room as well as their endless murmurs. She decided she would ignore them and just go with the flow. Apparently, being her "famous" now, and the school being more-less empty, everybody knew the little "show" her boyfriend and her best friend performed in Transfiguration.

She sighed. Ginny, hearing this asked, "So being the object of conversation it's not going so well huh?"

"Ginny, I just hope it goes away as every other gossip has. People have been misinterpreting my personal relationships way over since pretty much my whole stay here at Hogwarts. I wouldn't be surprised if they still did even though I'm with your brother."

"Oh come on Hermione, he may be your boyfriend _and _my brother, but he's still a tosser sometimes. I would understand you if you left him for someone more good looking or… smarter." Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Oh Gin, this is why you're my best friend." She continued laughing "But I can't picture any other guy besides him." _Liar._

"You really can't? How about that blonde hottie who just happens to be meddled in the center of the gossip with a witch in-between… oh, wait that's you!" She says whispering and giggling. "Shush it Gin, don't say those things! I'm dating your brother! Besides, I don't picture myself with Malfoy at all." _Liar liar, your bums on fire… _

"Yeah, And I'm the Queen of England. Hermione please, even though Malfoy is not my favourite person of Hogwarts I've honestly seen you laugh more times with him than with my brother. And I don't really interact much with him for the matter."

"I… that's not true! It only shows I'm as serious with your brother as he is with me." Hermione couldn't stand the look of _Are you completely serious?_ Ginny was throwing at her. "Ok, ok, maybe I do laugh a little bit more with Draco, but that doesn't mean anything! We just click you know? Like, we have so many things in common, more less the same type of humor, he also loves to read…" _Those eyes.. his big smile that makes me shiver…_ Hermione couldn't help but remember the prediction Trelawney had made for her. She began to think dreamily of a certain blonde friend of hers as the prospects of having him as a boyfriend wouldn't be so bad.

"And you're going to tell me that dreamy face of yours contradicts my past statement? I think you were just blinded and chose the wrong boyfriend." _Blinded?! __"Thou who won't see yet the true eyes of love, who is blinded by false infatuation…"_ Hermione remembered the words of the seer just after her best friend finished talking.

"Hey, it's not what…" She was cut off by Professor Snape entering the classroom. Everybody suddenly stopped what they were doing and kept silent. Almost in unison. Nobody dared to look at him right after he entered the room, as when someone did, it would most probably end up with a _very_ difficult question; house points being removed depending on their answer. But today Hermione couldn't look down as everyone else did. She felt those _eyes _again. Those eyes that would bore into her and make her not only tremble, but shiver at the mere feeling of being watched. She tried to look all around the room (avoiding Snape's sight) to see if anyone was looking at her. _Who is looking at me?_ For some reason, she felt the sensation stronger now more than ever. Ginny must've felt her anxious state because she just grasped her arm quickly enough before she could fall from her stool. "Thanks" She muttered to her redhead friend but she kept looking. She tried every single desk to see in anyone was looking at her way, but no one was. When she finally decided to look up to the professor, he cut off the silence treatment of every class.

"Before I take any house points today, you will attempt at making Baruffio's Brain Elixir. And If I catch a single one of you trying to drink it, don't expect less than a month of detention with me, as well as 50 points less." Hermione was relieved that class started, as she no longer felt the overpowering stare she was now feeling more and more. She hadn't told anybody about it; she would just be told she was "hanging too much with Loony Lovegood". Hermione hated the nickname most students would call her; she was one of the sweetest girls she'd ever met. She felt the stare along the class, but it would sometimes subside when she concentrated more on her potion.

Draco was being more self-confident today than any day before. He was sure Hermione not only felt affection towards him but something _more._ The way she had looked at him and the fact she almost fell for his lips was prove that she felt something for him too. It was only matter of time that would decide when was he claiming his Gryffindor princess away from the stupid weasel.

After potions class, all of the 7 graders had a free period, and Draco decided he would spend it with his bushy bookworm. _Since when have I been calling her that? I think Granger is rubbing some of her madness into me. _He kept looking at her after potions class, it had ended quite early, as now the majority of the potions classes have been (something strangely uncommon). But he lost her when she practically ran out of her classroom with the weaselette.

"Seriously Hermione, the person whom you are thinking of, is not going to catch us! You've practically dragged me to the other way of the castle!" Ginny said trying to keep up with Hermione, who finally came to a stop.

"Besides," She said taking a breath "I didn't get a chance to say hi to Harry. He must've looked for me back there."

"Sorry for that. It's just…"

"I understand if you don't want to see my brother. He's a twat anyway."

"Well, I wasn't going to say that but yes, he's also that. No, the reason I dragged you here, was to get _away."_

"Away? From whom?"

"I don't know! Partially I wanted to avoid your brother but, Gin, since the year school started I have this feeling of being _watched._ From time to time, I can almost feel in my skin the dark stare that won't go away. It is stronger when I'm alone but in today's potion class I felt it stronger than other days."

The redhead looked at Hermione as if she'd just told her the most wicked news she's ever heard of.

"You serious?" She couldn't hide the surprise and dumbstruck expression on her face.

"Dear Merlin! Do you know what this means? You must have a secret admirer! Not only you have a boyfriend and a very handsome wizard after you, you have an admirer!"

"Ginny stop saying that! First, I don't think your brother is very much into me anymore. Second, Draco and I are ONLY friends, nothing more. And lastly, I don't have a secret admirer! The stare just creeps me out! What if it's a girl?"

"What if it is not?"

"Which side you're on?"

"Look, the thing we know is your secret admirer or whomever, is in our potions class, yes?" Hermione sighed while nodding.

"That shrinks the list a lot more. Now we only have to find who is the one with the stare." _But I thought I've looked at everyone in the room. And there was no stare from anybody…_

"Hey, Hermione!" Both witches looked to see Harry and Ron walking their way.

"Oh, bugger! I guess I can't hide from him forever." She sighed "Could we keep this between us Gin?" Her best friend nodded vigorously. _This is going to get ugly…_ thought Hermione as Ron and Harry got nearer.

* * *

Draco had looked everywhere for Hermione. Half of the time of their free period was over, and he'd found nothing. He decided he would instead look for Blaise, who wasn't a ghost and went disappearing. He paced a few halls looking for his friend when he finally heard the voice of Hermione a few steps ahead.

"I've told you, Ronald; I am not cheating you with anybody! You just happened to be a prat and the consequence to that was the reaction of Draco." Draco could now see the rather harsh conversation Granger and Weasel were having. Both Potter and the Weaselette were awkwardly looking at them from a safe distance, trying to keep prying eyes away from the scene that was about to erupt.

"And how do I know that? I've seen you 'Mione, how you _look _at the ferret and how you act all giddy when you're around him." Hermione look quite displeased with his words because now the lovely witch was washed over with a shade of pink and her breathing began to thicken.

"I act around him like if he were any other friend! I think I act the same way with Harry, and I don't see you mad at him!" Ron seemed taken aback.

"I… well that's different."

She scoffed. "Different? In what way exactly may I ask? I thought in the definition of what a friend is, it doesn't specify you have to treat friends better than others."

"Well, yeah but Harry is like our brother! Malfoy is the enemy!" Harry was indeed like the brother Hermione never had but she wasn't going to take the fact Draco was something very similar to that. Not in the brotherly way… but similar.

"Again with the enemy! You know how much that bothers me! He's not the enemy, he's my friend and I think you're jealous!" Her face now was flushed from the heat of the argument.

"I am not!" Ron almost spat. "If you defend so much your ferret, why don't you just go away with him? I think I have better things to do." Hermione's jaw dropped. She knew the Weasley temper was the one talking, but she couldn't deny the words _did_ come out of Ron's mouth. And the words hurt. A lot.

"Speak for yourself weasel, you're nothing but a coward." Hermione turned only to see the blonde wizard standing near behind her.

"You just simply can't keep your manners with the ladies for more than 5 seconds do you? Oh wait, I forgot. You have none." Draco smirked, passing Hermione and standing face to face with Ron.

"You have nothing to do here!"

"As I matter of fact I do. It seems you have mentioned my name several times, and I believe something of the sort _is_ my business."

"You're not wanted here. Just get out and go look for daddy and those death eaters friends of yours back in Azkaban." That was it for Draco. His body was ready to aim the first punch, but he decided against it. _Do it for her, she wouldn't like for us to fight._

"Do. Not. Speak. About. My. Father. And I am no longer one of them. I have changed for the better. But I can't say the same thing for others. It is not a surprise you would hurt your girlfriend…_again."_ In the other hand, Ron didn't think as Draco. His temper was just above the boiling point.

"That's it Malfoy, you asked for it!"

"No, Ron wait!" Hermione desperately tried to stop the fight between the two but failed miserably as Ron's knuckles collided with her lip. Hermione fell backwards and was caught just in time in the arms of Draco before she could fall. Her head was throbbing and she tasted blood from her lower lip.

"You bastard! Look what you've done to her!" After Draco had checked Hermione didn't have any evident injury besides her lip, he tried to wipe off the blood from her lip with his robe.

"No Malfoy, I think is better if you take her with Mdme. Pomfrey. She may have a concussion or something like that." The Weasley girl told him.

"'Mione… I'm so sorry, 'Mione." Ron was shaking as Harry softly pulled him away from both Draco and Hermione to give them some space.

"She clearly can't hear you, you gormless," Draco said as he lifted her and made his way towards the Hospital Wing.

* * *

"This is clearly going to leave a scar," Hermione said moaning a little as Draco put a wet cloth over her lip. They were in a somewhat solitary part of the castle, late in the afternoon, sitting at the bottom of spiral stairs with a small stained-glass window at its side, letting enter a bit of reddish light into the stairs.

"Good thing you don't have anything else." He said carefully touching her face with the wet cloth.

"Yeah, Madame Pomfrey was lucky to still have an anti-inflammatory potion with her. Luna told me the other day, after the war, almost all inventory of medical potions and medical instruments were gone. And Hogwarts is still in the process of filling in the inventory before anything too disastrous happens to a student." Draco chuckled a little.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, your friend Looney. I think Blaise has something for her. He spent the whole summer talking non-stop about her bravery and all the stuff she did in the war. I barely could stand him." It was the turn for Hermione to let out a chuckle.

"Oh. Well, if I'm correct, she's still single, but I think she has something going on with Neville."

"Toad boy? I haven't seen him around here. I was glad I didn't hear his cries another year of how he'd always lose his frog." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't do that! And he will come, but maybe after Christmas. He almost finished his seventh-year last year, and McGonagall let him come for doing his N.E.W.T.s only. But I believe he told me he wanted to come for a few months." Hermione winced a little at the feeling of the cloth.

Draco then saw the gloomy expression that overcame her face moments after she remembered why he was putting a wet cloth over her lips.

"Hey," she looked up with her glassy, brown orbs.

"He's a prat you know?" He said remembering the day in their sixth year. She smiled and then sighed.

"I know."

"Then why are you still with him? It is obvious he doesn't deserve you."

"Draco…" She looked up at his handsome face. _He must really care about me to do this._

"I… sincerely don't know. I've always thought he was my one true love, and the feeling would be mutual but… I'm beginning to see how wrong I was. Maybe sometimes friends are meant to be nothing more." Draco touched her cheek, and she jumped at the movement.

"You have redness on your cheek, at the side of your lips." He carefully caressed the spot.

"Oh." She couldn't say more. She didn't know if it was redness of the bruise or if it is was blush that began to creep in her cheeks.

"You know… You're the most beautiful witch I've ever seen Hermione." _He almost never calls me that…_

"If I were your boyfriend, I wouldn't even touch you with a rose petal… and would always cherish you." He said looking at her eyes and slightly touching her lip with his thumb.

"I like the thought. It looks promising." She smiled leaning in a bit at the touch.

"Maybe… the only thing we would have to do is try..." Draco was deeply entranced with her eyes.

"I wouldn't mind trying…"

Just as their lips brushed, Draco was yanked away rather forcefully from his collar by a hand. They were so entranced by the moment they didn't notice the black figure that appeared behind them.

"Bloody hell, what is your prob-" Draco was cut off when he saw _who_ was holding him.

"I was hoping to see some decency from the head students in the halls of Hogwarts. Not defiling them!" Professor Snape's face was hidden in the darkness, but Hermione could've sworn she saw that his eyes were, including the white of his eyes, black as carbon.

"Snape in case you didn't know, it's called kissing, or rather an _attempt _of a kiss." That only enraged the teacher more as he yanked him further away from Hermione.

"I will not tolerate this act of insolence! Less coming from you. You're coming with me." He called Hermione, not looking at her. "I suggest you return to you dormitory, _Miss Granger_." He then proceeded to drag Draco away from the little space they were back into the hallways. Hermione sat alone on the stairs and realized she was holding her breath through the whole incidence with Draco and Snape. Her face was flushed from moments before, and she couldn't still quite process what just happened with them_. What in Merlin's sake just happened?_

* * *

Draco couldn't understand the harshness of his godfather towards him. As far as he knew, kissing was _far_ from prohibited in Hogwarts. In fact, he'd done worse things towards maidens in Hogwarts, and he knew Snape was well aware of that. Then why the sudden reaction when he attempted to kiss Granger? _It wasn't even a snog!_ _Is it because we're head students? No, I've never heard of head students being prohibited to kiss each other…I'll look it up later._ After they were a rather far distance from Hermione, Draco could see Snape putting on discreetly a necklace of sorts. He couldn't see very well what it was, but it apparently made his godfather look calmer than before. He didn't dare to question him about it; it wasn't the moment. He made a mental note about asking him later.

"May I have a reason of _why_ was I dragged away from a beautiful lady I was about to kiss?" Draco didn't realize his words made Snape flinch.

"No, you may not. And you better stop this acts of indecency before you're the very first student of Slytherin I take house points from." He stopped and looked over Malfoy. "Now, I too suggest you return to your dormitory and stop this nonsense of you." He had said coldly before he left Malfoy alone.

_Is it because she's a Gryffindor?_

* * *

**A/N: I think you pretty much knew who was the mystery guy before this. Huh, oh well, surprise!**

** Please continue reading and review :***


	5. Just a kiss, nothing more

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I said I wouldn't upload in another week but... I don't care about finals anymore! Ok, I know I should, but I pretty much think I passed all of my subjects, so instead for studying for an exam I'll have in a few hours, I wrote this beautiful chapter! Hehe, I just couldn't keep my hand to myself and my keyboard suffered the consequences of it. Back into the story, I'm really grateful for all of your feedback and special thanks to boobearhplover. Anyways there are a few things I would like to discuss here. PLEAAAASE do tell me what you think. First, I'm seriously considering changing this story to M, and I would like to know the opinion of all of you if it wouldn't be a problem, as my story wouldn't appear right away because it is rated M and you would have to click in the filters to see it. Secondly, as I've realized this is a not-so-silly love triangle I'm also considering putting Snape's name on my summary or so. Please tell me what you think. As always, any suggestion, comment or** **whatevaa** **is welcomed. I'll leave you with an extra** **loooong chapter here to make up if I can't upload next week.**

**Please enjoy and review :***

* * *

Severus didn't mean for this to happen. He couldn't let his guard down, even less with his godson in his presence. He knew Draco and Granger were good friends before, but he didn't count on them being _more_.He couldn't avoid the dark feelings the veela magic would make him feel about it. He felt his blood boil with anger at the mere thought of them being together. _And I've thought after the disgusting- _Severus had to stop and count to ten before this temper got the best of him remembering the why of her being admitted into the Infirmary. -_event that happened earlier. Finally, Hermione thought best about dating silly boys her age. I guess not. _He made a mental note to make Weasley's life a living hell after what he'd done to his mate. Not only does the bastard has the nerve of dating her but also the sauciness of punching her? After he found out of her been his mate, he would carry invariably with him little bottles of calming draught rather _strong _for each time he would see Hermione with Weasley. His veela blood stopped the bottles from unleashing their full effect on him, so he had to take a minimum of 2-3 bottles each time he would feel his veela blood become more agitated with his emotions. But today, he had to take at least _seven_ of those bottles and put on his pendant; to _at least_ get out of there without the furniture, or anyone besides her, getting severely damaged when he saw her at the Infirmary.

_After delivering a student, whose face had turned pink from an accident in his last class of the day to the infirmary, he could not only smell her, but also sense she was in danger. His senses sharpened, he could feel his fangs growing, and he ignored the fact his eyes would most probably be bright obsidian by now__. Thank Merlin the Infirmary is almost empty__ he thought. He could hear his godson's ramblings towards Poppy as he approached his mate with the precaution of not being caught.  
_

"_I swear I will kill that bastard!" Malfoy bellowed at the nurse._

_"Mr. Malfoy, please calm down and stop yelling, it'll fix nothing. As you told me the story, it looks like it was a mere accident caused by a misunderstanding."_

"_An accident?! I wouldn't say the weasel had thrown a punch by "accident" as you put it. Every witness there could affirm he looked very much he wanted to get physical, and violently so." __Weasley had punched her? How could he?! How DARED he?!__ Severus was prepared to jump in and scare everyone away to heal his mate privately until his rational self mentally slapped him, and he better thought of drinking his calming draughts. __Fuck!__ He had already taken 3, and he wasn't feeling a tad better. He began searching for more as he listened to the conversation with his new heightened hearing sense._

_"Mr. Malfoy, I assure you this mishap could have been avoided if you hadn't provoked Mr. Weasley. I assume the strike wasn't directed at her, am I correct?" After a long moment without words, it was clear Ron had meant to punch Draco instead of Hermione. __As the Gryffindor she is, she would most probably think she could've avoided the fight without magic. __Severus shook his head at her reckless attempt at stopping it.__ She might be a war hero, but she lacks the enough common sense for stopping irrelevant, petty fights. And even more so, it the fight was between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin. __Even though the war was over, and Slytherins weren't much of "conceited snobs" (almost all other students from different houses referred to them like that). And had stopped slightly with the blood supremacy (the majority), there was still an evident rivalry between Gryffindors and Slytherins.  
_

_"Seeing I am correct, I suggest you help me attend Miss Granger instead of staying tongue-tied with a bitter expression on your face." Severus couldn't see them, but he could hear the exasperated tone on Poppy.  
_

"_Yes of course Mdme. Pomfrey, I just… I am ready to hex the weasel after what he did. If he ever thinks of laying a hand on her again…" He was cut off with the sound of a moan._

"_Draco, sod off," Severus smirked as he could hear the voice of Hermione lightly rise from where she was. __She must've just woken up__ he thought. _

"_Don't misunderstand me, I'm really grateful for this, but I think I can hex my boyfriend's stupidity myself." He could almost feel her smile. Draco snorted after what she said._

"_I know Granger. I just… I wouldn't know what would I do if I lost you." __Lost you?__ Severus thought twice what his godson had just said. The sound of his words seemed too affectionate for his liking. __Does he fancy Hermione, __**my**__ Hermione?__ After roaming a bit and stealing enough calming draught he paced restlessly on the outside of the Infirmary, and he saw Draco and Hermione get out from it a while later. He waited a few moments until he decided it was best to follow them__. He better keep his relationship platonic with my mate, or else…_

He cursed and mentally slapped himself over and over after the encounter with Granger and Malfoy. He really hoped his godson would keep his hands off her, but he feared his actions might have revealed the why of his sudden outburst. He knew the endless questions that were about to come to him, and he began thinking of viable excuses he could give him. Being a veela and revealing who was his mate was definitely out of the question. _He knows I know he has had many… encounters with Hogwarts' female students before this. And I must say, this looked far the most innocent of the ones I've caught him. And I also know, he didn't believe a quarter of what I just told him a while ago. _Severus sighed as he thought of plausible excuses while he walked toward his chambers.

* * *

After what seemed forever, Hermione finally snapped back towards reality and began staggering through the halls towards her chamber. She didn't feel dizzy at all from the events with Ron. No, she felt dizzy for both the almost kiss with Draco and the sudden apparition of the potions master. She decided she didn't know what shocked her more; the fact she didn't even attempt to push Draco off or the spasmodic reaction their professor had when they almost kissed. Had Draco done something for angering him? Was he betrothed to someone and Professor Snape knew? Was that the why of his sudden outburst? She decided to discard the last thought, as Draco would've told her if he were betrothed to someone. _Maybe he was already mad about something and seeing us must have been the cherry on top of his patience._ Hermione knew how silly that sounded but decided best to stick to it. She would question Malfoy about the encounter if she saw him in the common room. _He is his godson after all, he would certainly tell him why he reacted like that. But his eyes… I can almost swear they were bright black when he found us… where have I seen this before? _Hermione shrugged the feeling off, as she thought it would most probably be the effects of the potions and the blow she had today.

She reached the common room and saw the only light illuminating it was coming from the fireplace. She felt embarrassed to face Draco right now, seeing he was reading a book on the couch, looking like he was _waiting_ for her. She gulped a little and decided it was best to approach him right now. He looked at her endearingly and spoke when he saw nothing came out of her parted lips.

"Please… I don't want you to misunderstand anything that happened between us. I do mean everything that I said and did earlier today and I still do, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with our relationship if you don't return the same feelings I have for you." Hermione stood there dazed and blushing furiously at the maturity of Draco's words. Draco, in fact, felt too, amazed by the serenity he managed to control things. _But I do really hope she feels the same way about me _he thought.

"I… I'm glad you're taking this seriously." She managed to say at last. "The things is… as I told you _earlier_ today, I still have to resolve things out with Ron. I don't believe my romantic relationship with him has a future anymore. I'm certain my feelings towards him are purely fraternal more than romantic, and although I consider his are too, his jealousy always gets the best out of him." She paused, thinking what to say sequentially. "I need to discuss things with him, _alone_. And even though I don't expect less than a month of him ignoring me, I don't want our friendship to end. I treasure him enough fo that."

There was a silence, both to give Draco time to assimilate her words and Hermione, time to think what to say next. Draco led Hermione to sit next to him on the couch.

"Draco, I too treasure our friendship, and very dearly so. And right now my feelings for you haven't changed since this afternoon, I believe there will be a chance for this to happen." She said grabbing his hand and looked right into his eyes, which sparkled with the light of the fire. Her heart skipped a beat before continuing, "But I want you to respect my decision of staying friends right now. As I don't want to infuriate Ron Furthermore," She said with a sad, small smile. And added with a more playful smile. "Besides, we now have to worry about Snape too. What happened on the stairs today? I don't believe I have seen him this mad about a mere kiss before." She blushed. "Did he tell you why?" Now it was time for Draco to look worried.

"No, I was hoping you knew the answer to that, Miss know-it-all." He smirked, using the nickname Snape had given her, and she gave with a fierce look. He laughed lightly. "Sorry Granger, I thought you would know about it. Honestly, I don't know what in Merlin's pants happened for his mood to be this sour. I even looked up the head students manual if it said anything about us not being able to kiss, it said nothing." Hermione looked pensive. "Although, I did see him put on a necklace of sorts when he took me into the halls, I don't know if that means anything." She looked up at him.

"Yeah, and I could almost swear I saw his eyes were black, like even the white of them. Did you see them too?" Hermione looked at the I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about face Draco gave her and sighed. "I guess it was the effect of the numbness potion acting over my senses. But I believe what I saw, and I also think I have seen that somewhere..." She tried to recall this past week where has she seen the bright obsidian eyes. Draco snapped her from her thoughts.

"Well, I guess we can't act too giddy, as the weasel puts it when we see Snape around. Not until we know for sure the reason of the whim Snape threw at us." Hermione nodded and proceeded to yawn.

"But now we must sleep. I don't want my bookworm to pass out in tomorrow's lessons, not when we have potions again, sadly." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Draco I spent, for almost a year, countless nights without sleeping, and I can assure you I didn't pass out. And don't say sadly, potions class is essential for our N.E.W.T.s, with our without Snape!" Draco chuckled. He knew her studious self, won over a simple sermon of a professor to regret attending a class.

"I know, but I don't want this to be the first." She couldn't help but smile at his caring words.

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight Granger" He cupped her face and lightly planted a loving kiss at the corner of her lips lingering for about 4 seconds before retreating. And before she could retort, he made his exit rather quickly and shut his dorm door. Hermione was left alone, again, speechless. _I will hex him!_

* * *

If Harry or Ginny thought they had made a good work keeping prying eyes and ears from the scene of yesterday, they were wrong. _Very_ wrong. As now the Dark Lord was gone, gossip in Hogwarts revolved pretty much on what other schools did. Students' lives. It wasn't long before Hermione received strange, jealous, or even admiration looks from fellow classmates. She tried to ignore them all but couldn't quite escape all of them as they would sometimes discreetly ambush her right or after she went from a class to the other. The classmates and friends from her year weren't so annoying. They knew her from since 1st or 2nd year, and already knew the endless amount of gossip the witch had received concerning her "love life" over the years. First was Krum and Harry, then it had been Ron and Lavender, and now it was Ron and Draco. _They just can't get enough!_ Hermione angrily thought making her way looking for Ron. Their free period was almost up and potions class was next. She finally found him in an alley close to the dungeons chatting with Harry. He saw her before Ron did, and with a knowing look, he excused himself to give them some privacy.

"Ron."

"Please don't look at me 'Mione. I don't know what to feel right now. I feel very remorseful about yesterday, but I can't shake the feeling of anger when I see you and Malfoy together." Hermione could see he was grabbing the corner of the bench rather forcefully. _He's trying not to snap. _

"Ron please, I'm not here to fight. Not anymore." He finally saw her with begging eyes. She tried no to look at him, not to face him. _No! You must do this if you want him to understand. You can't back away!_

"You're one of the most important persons in my life Ron. After… days, maybe even weeks of thinking it over, I've come to realize that the love we hold to each other is not romantic. It's fraternal." She said sitting next to him and grabbing his hand. He flinched at her touch and took his hand away.

"You think this is a joke? Hermione, I think I've loved you since even before we'd met! You can't do this to me! I've done every sodding thing for ye!" He said raising his voice standing up.

"Ron please, you're going to attract an audience here. I don't think this a joke Ron. I love you, I do. But think it over Ron, even though we are pretty good friends, we've been fighting way more since we're together. And I don't like that, and I think neither do you. What if… things were like before?"

"Are you breaking up with me?" Ron said with a high pitched tone and a flushed face. She took a deep breath.

"Yes. I trust this experience has taught us to strengthen our friendship more than ever. I don't want to lose you, Ron, you're one of my best friends." She said with teary eyes.

"This about the ferret right?"

"I-It is not! I cannot deny I have a very good relationship with him, nor that I like him. But the fact that we're not a compatible couple has nothing to do with it!" She was now crying.

"I'm sorry, but it is hard to believe." He said with an icy tone. "Good luck finding your soul mate then." He stormed out the alley while cursing into the air. Hermione did a cleansing spell on her face, and with a tissue she blew her nose. _I had seen this coming, only that I hadn't count that it would hurt so much…_

Hermione, after countless minutes trying to stop crying, was almost late for potions class. She quietly took her seat next to Ginny and proceeded to sink in her bench, head in her arms.

"Hermione, what's wrong? Do I need to hex someone?" She could hear the whispers of her desperate friend on her ear and decided to tell her what had happened after the incident of yesterday afternoon with Ron up until today.

"Don't worry Hermione, he'll come around." She said patting her back.

"There was this one time, on out trip to Egypt, Ron wanted to impress this girl he had just met. He tried to show off with minor spells he had just learned but was dwarfed when Fred did it best. Obviously attracting the girl's attention to him. Ron was so mad he swore never to speak again to him and look, he always brags about how good Fred and George are now doing with the joke shop." She said smiling.

"I know Gin… it's just, I really don't know when he'll speak to me again. The Ron you speak of was thirteen. Last time I had an argument with grown-up Ron this big, we didn't talk for months." Hermione said with a pained face.

"Well yeah, but that was when you guys were alone in the forest. And he wasn't even there! Now you have many people who are willingly ready to hex him." She said with a mischievous smile.

"Thanks, Ginny," Hermione said while laughing.

"We won't lose any of our time in this class. Yesterday, some of you managed successfully to create Wolfsbane and for today, we'll be doing Draught of Peace. As some of you may know, the Infirmary is running low on medical equipment and Mdme. Pomfrey has kindly asked if we could provide some. This potion was assigned in your fifth year to many of you, brewing this accurately won't cause a problem." Professor Snape quickly said right after entering the classroom.

"Oh drats! We didn't have the time to see who was your admirer! It almost seems Snape knows what we planned to do." Ginny whispered in a pained tone.

"We'll he is very skilled at Legilimency…" _Actually it is rather odd. Counting that, at the beginning of the term until now he had given us the silent treatment for the first minutes and today, the day we planned to… _Hermione was shaken away from her thoughts as her best girl friend shook her, and hurriedly whispered at her.

"But forget about Ron. Let's talk about you! I mean, you almost kissed Draco Malfoy! But I still don't quite understand the reaction of Snape…"

"Miss Weasley I can assure you, rambling in class will _not _do your potion. Ten points from Gryffindor, and Get. To .Work." Snape said, appearing quietly behind them. Hermione had her eyes glued to her table, not wanting to suffer further humiliation from her professor after yesterday.

"And Miss Granger, your sulking towards the table won't do your potion also. Five points from Gryffindor." He said leaving Hermione blushing furiously.

"Yes, professor." She said sheepishly, not daring to look up. Snape just left towards his desk without saying furthermore.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean for it to happen. I know you didn't want to encounter with him for like the rest of the year. Although it's not fair he took less points from you! He shouldn't have taken 10 points from me! He's rather odd since the school started." Ginny as quietly as she could whisper at her.

"It's okay Gin. And hey, it's better that it was 15 points than 20." _Although I must admit he has been acting quite strangely_. Hermione thought. _Could it be the same reason the why of his black eyes? What if the one with the stare was…?_ Hermione quickly abandoned the thought, as it was completely mental and resumed her potion instead.

* * *

"Harry, I hate to be separated again from you and Ron. But he won't talk to me! I think we must approach our friendship cautiously. I don't want to lose him and force us to "share" our time with you." Hermione said sadly towards her best friend.

"Like Ginny told you, he'll come around. He'll realize sooner or later he values more your friendship than losing you." She sighed.

"Well, it's been a week and he hasn't even bothered to glance my way. I believe I'll give him 'till Christmas to even say "hello". Has he talked to you about this?"

"Not much, he knows my relationship with you is still the same, so he won't give me too many details. But he told me he bets Malfoy brainwashed you in some way or another for you to break up with him."

"Harry I… You know how my relationship with Draco is. It's not my fault Ron's head is full of jealousy. You know better than anyone! The last time he was this jealous the left- for months!"

"I know 'Mione, but it made me think. I'm not accusing you of anything but… I believe you might even fancy Malfoy and don't even know it. I know the heart does not choose with whom it falls in love. I bet if Ron weren't your boyfriend before, you'd be already snogging the brains out of Malfoy. And I don't like the mental image of that." Harry said making a face of disgust. She just slapped his shoulder with her book.

"Harry Potter! Stop insinuating things when I was still your best friend's girlfriend a week ago! But I must say, Harry, I'm really confused about my feeling right know." She said considering telling him the prediction she was told.

"Harry I believe…" She was cut off by Draco calling at her. _Why must I always be interrupted right in the middle of something important?!_ She relaxed only because it was Draco.

"Granger, there are some third years causing trouble near the astronomy tower and I need your help."

"Couldn't you handle them by yourself Malfoy? We're discussing something important over here." Harry said with a not-so-rudely tone. Hermione was happy Harry and Draco were more civil to one another than him and Ron. They still weren't what you'd call friends, but it was an improvement.

"Harry it's fine. I'll check it up. We'll discuss this later." She said lightly grabbing his arm and gave him a warm smile. And proceeded to follow Draco.

Already on the Astronomy Tower, Hermione couldn't see a single soul and questioned Draco.

"You told me there were some students here, I see nothing!"

"Maybe they already left and decided to be good wizards," Draco said while smirking.

"You just tricked me to follow you! I was actually having an important conversation with Harry you know." She playfully hit him.

"Hey, I think I pretty well saved you back there. I couldn't stand seeing your bored face with Potter."

"I didn't have a "boring face" as you put it. But anyways, why the astronomy tower? You could've just dragged me a few halls from him if you wanted to talk to me."

"Because in here I can do this freely." He said and his lips suddenly swayed with hers.

Hermione's reaction towards the kiss came 3 seconds after he initiated it. She unconsciously returned it wholeheartedly and felt the softness of his lips move against hers. One hand of his grabbed her waist and the other caressed her wild curls that flew on the wind. She couldn't help but grab his face with her hands as he deepened the kiss. He began kissing her passionately and he nibbled at her lower lip making her gasp at the sudden movement he did, allowing his tongue enter her mouth. She battled against it for a second, until her defenses went down and she melted into the kiss, letting a little moan of pleasure escape her; it only encouraged him to kiss her more. It had been the most tender, loving kiss she'd ever had. After a good deal of time, her senses came back and she realized what she just did. She gasped and stepped backwards, breaking the kiss.

"Draco! What was that for? I thought I told you to respect my decision of staying friends!" She said with her face flushed, and her hair dancing widely in the air.

"I did. And it was part of my birthday gift to you." He smiled teasingly.

"Although, I must say, you looked like you positively were enjoying the kiss as much as I did _Hermione_." His smile only grew.

"I…That's has nothing to do about it! You betrayed my friendship, ignoring my request! And my birthday was nearly a week ago! You have no excuse!"

"But I didn't. You didn't hear me say, "Granger, would you like to be my girlfriend?" did you?" Hermione couldn't help but blush at his false request. "For much as I would like to say it, I wouldn't betray our friendship as you put it. It was just a kiss, nothing more." He didn't stop smiling while he said that. Hermione's cheeks were now flushed with both embarrassment and a little bit of anger.

"You… You! I can well believe why they sorted you out in Slytherin. Always trying to find loop holes in things!" She said pointing at him.

"Yes, but you love it." Draco couldn't stop smiling. The kiss was more than he'd expected at first. He has expected her to just slap him and yell, but her reaction confirmed she reciprocated his feelings as well. _Her lips… oh, how much I would like to revive the now memory! She tasted like heaven!_ Hermione looked quite mad at first, but then her features softened.

"Dear Merlin, what am I going to do with you?" She laughed. "We better return, or actual students might get in trouble."

"Sure," Draco said before stealing a quick kiss from her again, and before she said anything he paced from the astronomy tower laughing, only hearing her say.

"I'll hex you Malfoy!"

* * *

_**Thou who shall not cease to enter my mind, who intrudes my deepest dreams,**_

_**Thou whose essence infiltrates my inner soul,**_

_**Have the most delicacy of all the blossoming rouge buds.**_

_**I shall wait for thee until the last pulse my soul will give fades away.**_

_**SVS**_

Hermione read the note over and over, confused as when she first received it for her birthday. It appeared in her lap, being sent magically towards her, without any sender. Who could've sent her the note? Of course, Draco was beyond jealousy when he found out but didn't appear threatened in the last bit. He was confident enough of himself. He'd told her "If there were actually someone behind that letter, should know that I already have the advantage of winning your heart." She'd just rolled her eyes at him, thinking he was just too prideful to admit the letter was heart-touching.

She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, with Luna and Ginny, inspecting the letter furthermore.

"Are you sure you don't know any SVS?" Luna asked her and Hermione shook her head.

"Not that I remember, no."

"Hermione I'm telling you! It must be your secret admirer!"

"The more we should be concerned! The letter, even though romantic up to the roof, creep me out a little. But even if it was, Ginny we don't actually have anyone with those initials in our potion class." _Unless he is by an alias…_ she thought.

"Anyways, I think it is very romantic of someone writing that formally to you. I wouldn't imagine a boy from our class writing such thing." Ginny said absently.

"Maybe it wasn't a boy." Luna pointed out and before Hermione could respond, Harry tapped her shoulder.

"'Mione, McGonagall wants to see us." He paused. "And what is Luna doing over here?" Harry said pointing at the petite blonde witch.

"The Fat Lady got a liking to her, Luna always coming here and even gave her the password," Ginny said brightly as she softly gave Harry a welcoming kiss.

"Oh, that's good! But anyways 'Mione we must go to her."Hermione nodded and said goodbye to her friends, leaving them with unanswered questions.

They reached the headmaster and headmistress' office and found McGonagall looking at her desk.

"Professor…?" Harry questioned.

"My children, I tried for Severus and Ronald to be here and discuss things the five of us, but seeing the seriousness of this affair, I must inform you right away. Severus already knows, but he's got class and Ron too. I suggest you tell him immediately after I say this." Both Hermione and Harry's blood had turned cold. Was this about Voldemort? _It can't be, I killed him myself_ thought Harry. Seeing both Hermione and Harry's faces, Minerva interjected.

"Don't look so dejected children, it's not so serious as it was with Voldemort." She could hear a definite sigh of relief from both wizards when she said it.

"But it does cause a sign of warning and attention to all of us." Minerva then took a more serious expression. "There have been several _rumours_ of fugitive Death Eaters, the few that remain, who are planning the leak of those who are in Azkaban."

"But… that's nearly impossible… we barely made it in our third year, and we had a Hippogriff and it was only one person!" Hermione exclaimed and Harry winced, remembering his godfather.

"I know, I know, but they are just rumours. The alarming thing is, the few that are fugitive have been taken a killing spree towards Muggle-borns." She said with a hard expression on her face. Hermione couldn't help the notch that formed in her stomach. She wanted to vomit. _And here I was, thinking that I was at last, completely safe from the viciousness and malevolent acts towards Muggle-Borns. _

"I don't want to scare you, or anything close. But I do have the necessity of informing you, as this matter must not to be taken so lightly. Even though the remaining Death Eaters are very few and they will be arrested at the sight, we cannot ignore the fact some of the scraps the war left could be a growing menace."

"Professor, and have the Order or the Ministry taken any action towards the menace?" Harry inquired.

"The Ministry is still a little brought down by the war. It will take months, if not a year or so before they can act on anything. While it is not a direct threat they can't do anything officially, but we are grateful Kingsley is the new minister. The Order has indeed sent few of their most efficient wizards to search for them. Kingsley has ordered full secrecy on this, although here in the school I very much doubt there are any death eaters inside the school. He might also start recruiting new members, so if someone of your generation who you see fit for the task catches you attention, let me know. To see if we recruit the new members." Hermione and Harry both nodded.

"You took the news rather well. Severus was pretty much livid after receiving the news, told me they should've sent every member who was free of duty to catch them. I told him it was too risky. But nevertheless, do keep an eye on your trips towards Hogsmeade and try not to spread the news in the school. We don't want any more drop out children or worried parents."

"Yes, professor." They said in unison.

"And for the tenth time, please call me Minerva when we are alone, you're way more than just students now." She said with a smile as she parted them away.

"Death Eaters again?" Draco exclaimed when Hermione told him the news. Harry and her agreed she would break the news to Draco and Luna, and Harry to Ron and Ginny. Although only Ron was an official member, they consider the other three to be very capable of becoming future members as well as Neville. But they had to wait for his return to tell him, they didn't want to risk sending an owl.

"Please Draco, you must not speak nor talk about it to anyone besides, Harry, Ginny, Luna, Ron, and remaining members of the Order, and that includes me. We can't agitate the students after the recent war." Draco nodded. After the war, his father was sent to Azkaban for the rest of the summer and just recently gotten out only to be on probation for 3 years. And he had to remain on house arrest for a year and a half. Even though Draco no longer felt the necessity or the wish of returning to his so-called home, he had more-less pardoned his father and mildly believed his apologies. He only did that for his mother's sake. Draco planned to work as an auror or in the Ministry of Magic after school, and with the inheritance his family name had left (For when his father ended up in Azkaban, every single family good and galleon was left in Draco's name). He wanted to buy his mother a new manor, clean from dark magic.

"Hermione, I promise not a single word will come out from me unless it is to someone from the Order." She smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I wouldn't like to cast a second _obliviate _spell ever again." She said with a sad expression on her face and she felt tears prick the end of her eyes. Draco hugged her and caressed her hair.

"Granger… I'm sorry for your parents. Have you tried to make contact with them?" he said looking at her.

"I… tried to locate them but… I don't think it's the wisest thing to do now. It's been over a year since I put the spell on them and the long term effects of the spell are not so delightful. Even though if I did restore their thoughts, not all of them might come back, and they may even suffer further memory loss if done incorrectly. After the war when I looked at them, they seemed so happy with the life they have right now… I couldn't take that away from them you know? What if they don't want me anymore?" Hermione said with teary eyes that had already betrayed her eyes and fell down on her cheeks and Draco hugged her even stronger.

"Hermione, I didn't mean to upset you like that. I'll tell you what. After this year's end, I'll help you look and restore the memories of you parents." She looked brightly at him and stopped crying.

"You'll do that for me?"

"Only with one condition" She looked at him with a vaguely squint look.

"Which one?"

"If you kiss me." She laughed and hit him lightly in the arm.

"Draco, stop looking for loopholes on things! But fine, I'll do it." She said laughing as he suddenly smiled widely and she kissed him on the cheek. Draco looked a little disappointed.

"Hey, I had to try."

* * *

Severus paced restlessly in his room after the news Minerva revealed to him. How on Earth would the Ministry let still Death Eaters roaming freely in the world? He knew Kingsley was doing "everything he could" but it wasn't enough. The thought of a soulless coming near his mate infuriated him more. He relieved himself with the thought of his mate being near him so he could protect her easier. After the close proximity he had with her in potions class the week before, he couldn't stop his veela side to write a little note to her for her "birthday". Of course, he knew her birthday was merely an excuse for writing her such cheesy letter. He had to put the alias of SVS (Severus Veela Snape) to avoid any suspicion that it was his doing. He knew his mate was if not the most intelligent witch he has met in his entire life. And he knew she had tried to locate him in the potions class for she already knew the one staring at her was in that class. He then began talking right after he entered the room, distracting him to stare at her as he usually did. He also felt pained, but he had to take away at least some points from her for raising any suspicion. He was beginning to feel more agitated and nervous every time he saw her with other males. He knew his veela blood wanted to make him announced to his mate for bonding with her, but it was too dangerous to do it right away. After not being able to control it for much longer, he decided to silently cast a dream spell on her. When she went to sleep, her dream and his would be linked, and both consciousnesses would be in the same dream. Although he would remember every bit of it, she would only remember the dream itself, but won't remember with who exactly she had dreamt with unless he wanted to. So after tracking her down, ever so silently (they were in the library) he cast the spell without anyone noticing, not even she.

After hours of waiting, he finally sensed she was going to sleep and he too, went towards his bed and began dreaming almost immediately.

_They were in the forbidden forest and she wore a white, thin dress and was barefoot. He looked at her as if she were his prey, a little doe running in the woods, and silently followed her. She was running as if she looked for something, for someone in the dark forest. When he was close enough to her, he released his pheromones and he saw she could smell them for she accidentally tripped over with a vine and fell to the ground. He was instantly above her, with his fangs and wings out. His bright obsidian eyes looking straight into her chocolate ones.  
_

_She gasped at the view, but he sensed she wasn't feeling afraid. Instead, she was washed with a feeling of curiosity and longing. He smiled at her and he moved so that she couldn't move from her place. She was lying on her back, her curls sprayed all over the ground, lips parted with a cherry colour and he was on top of her. He could hear her quick gasps of air and he hushed her placing a finger on her lips._

"_Don't fear my love, my intentions are far the opposite of harming you." He released all the pheromones his veela blood would allow and he leaned closer to her, his lips almost touching hers._

_"Do you trust me?" He could see the anxiety she felt before was gone, and she nodded.  
_

"_Don't worry… it's just a kiss, nothing more." And he leaned forward._

* * *

**A/N: So yeah I made them kiss...yay! Love/Hate it? Please review (even if you don't have an account) and keep reading!**

**:***


	6. Longing stares and stolen kisses

**A/N: Ma readers, hi to you all! I'm sorry I wasn't able to upload last week, but I had my graduation and with all preparations and buying a dress... (I didn't want to), I couldn't really focus in the chapter, but here I am! Finally vacations! And, to be honest, I had a little bit of writer's block, so inspiration for details didn't come until yesterday at 2 am, so finally I finished it. This chapter is a little bit shorter than the other two, but I'll upload hopefully next chapter in a week or so. **

**I will also include in my story from now on the thing with the dates, I realised that having big chunks of paragraphs in italics was a bit tiring for the eye, so I'll be using dates to travel to the back and present. Also, I think I'll wait a few chapters to change my rating to M... and I thought too I don't quite know if I will put Severus' name on the summary... Anyways, please tell me your thoughts about the story, ideas, questions, comments, whatever! And as always, I'll update my chapter these days for any mistakes whatsoever.**

**Enjoy the chapter :***

* * *

Hermione woke up with a jolt, heart racing and breath shaking. _What was that? _In all of her most vivid dreams she's had in her short life, she had never experienced something even remotely close to last nights' dream. She could still feel her heart racing and skin burning from the intensity of the dream. The only time where she had felt this _alive_ before was when she kissed Draco. What confused more Hermione was the fact she remembered her dream with perfect detail all with the exception of one thing: the face of the other participant in her dream_. How could you not remember the face of the person with whom you were just dreaming moments ago? _She shook her head and she then, began thinking rationally about the dream. _I was in the forest, running? Then I smelled… something beautiful… and I fell to the floor. And then this shadow/person just pinned me to the ground, and I saw wings, fangs… and blackness. _Hermione tried to remember the last thing she ate or drank last night, as she never dreamt of things this ludicrous. She touched her lips as she recalled the past events, and her cheeks were flushed with a shade of pink. She had kissed Draco Malfoy… Malfoy! And not only that, she felt suddenly ashamed because not only had she being kissing Ron less than two weeks ago, she had snogged Draco and she had dreamt she was kissed be another man... or woman. _Oh gods!_

Hermione, putting on a robe, rushed towards the Gryffindor common room, not caring her hair looked pretty much like a bird's nest. She thanked Merlin it was almost 7 in the morning, and school started in a couple of hours.

Hermione, passing through the empty halls, reached the common room, where she proceeded to enter the girl's dormitories. She silently entered Ginny's room, without waking up the others and cast a silent spell as she closed the curtains of her bed behind her.

"Ginny, Ginny wake up!" She whispered as she shook her lightly. She only got muffled, inarticulate and flaky responses back.

"Please Gin!" She shook harder and, no answer. She knew _all_ Weasleys had trouble waking up, and thought of something better.

"You wouldn't believe what I heard at the Great Hall the other day about Harry…" "Harry?" That did it, the redhead woke up with eyes wide as cherry pies and sat up on the bed.

"What exactly did you hear about him?" Hermione couldn't help but chuckle. Even though Ginny was known for being bold and intrepid, she did have that cute side, and you couldn't help but want to pinch her cheek and kiss it.

"You're going to kill me Gin, but there isn't gossip about Harry; I needed you to wake up." Ginny pierced her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"I believe seven minus fifteen."

"Shite! Hermione, I still had forty-five minutes of sleep! This must be significant."

"It is… Forty-five? I thought you took more time dolling up."

"Sometimes… I prefer to use the time sleeping. You know I don't love makeup, and my hair is so straight, I don't have to do much. Not like _others_ at least." She giggled at the mass amount of hair that sat in the witch's head and Hermione blushed.

"Well, my hair _is_ bushy,wild, and I have just woken up too, so I haven't tamed it yet."

"I thought you used the charm that made your hair less bushy and more curly for a week."

"I do, but yesterday I was way too tired for it and… Anyways! Let's not stray off the subject. Ginny, I had the strangest dream last night. Like, really the oddest dream I have ever had in my life. It was so vivid, so intense and a little perplexing at the same time. I remember almost all of it- for the exception of with whom I dreamt with. It so strange, as if my mind won't let me-"

"-Remember?" Ginny said rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, but how do you-?"

"It's a charm. It's called _Unionem phantasias. _It makes two persons, or even more, share the same dream. Harry and I use it all the time." She said giggling. "But if the one who cast the spell wishes it, the other person won't remember with who they dreamt at least their face." She yawned.

Hermione didn't know what angered her more. The fact that she didn't have any previous knowledge of the charm, or that someone had charmed her with a sleep spell without her consent. Her cheeks were now flushed but with anger. _How dare they! Or better say… he? Gods, I don't even know who cast the charm!_

"You look angry." The redhead said.

"I am! I feel so _violated!_ How can anyone dare to use the spell so freely like that! It's worse than invading personal space, they are infiltrating it Gin!"

"Was the dream _that_ bad? I mean, the charm only joins consciousness, but we are the ones who fill the dream with our wishes and fears. Of course, it is usually the one who cast the charm the dominant one. And seeing you didn't know at all about it, you merely played a character in the other's dream. Nevertheless, your consciousness also contributed to it. But leaving aside that, what was the dream about?" Hermione blushed furiously and turned her head away from her friend _I can't stop blushing since I woke up!_ She sighed.

"Oohhh! Was it dreamy and hot? Did you snogged all night long?" She smirked.

"No! Nothing like that! It was just a kiss, but I don't even know with who!" Ginny threw her a knowing look at Hermione and she shook her head.

"I bet it was your secret admirer! Even though you can't remember his face, you can sure remember more less how was he like right?"

"Something like that…"

* * *

He couldn't stop himself from jogging and hide himself from the atrocious potions teacher whenever he saw him, after their _unfortunate _encounter on the stairs the other day. He'd intentionally wanted to query his godfather. But after the frigid, standoffish glares he would give him every time their eyes met, he started to think it wasn't the best of ideas. He decided to entirely give up inquiring him directly and better thought to look for answers elsewhere. He was also sure that if he wanted his relationship with Granger to blossom he had to keep it a secret. It was pretty obvious his so-called godfather didn't want them together.

_He was beaming with glee the afternoon they had snogged, but then stopped abruptly his tracks, when Snape had caught him in the halls._

_"May I know the sudden and highly inappropriate outburst of your demeanor Mr. Malfoy?" He'd asked. Draco was almost certain his eyes darkened and remembered the words of Hermione. __She wasn't lying about the pitch black eyes__... Also, he sensed Snape did not only felt but smelled the fear that was creeping in the back of his neck._

"_I-I…" He stuttered. "My mother wrote to me. We're holding a Christmas banquet and perhaps, a ball." He said after a few moments of composing himself. Although it wasn't a lie, he couldn't think of anything better to say. Without waiting for an answer, he quickly made an exit and paced as furthest away from his teacher as his feet would allow._

He groaned at the thought. He knew his parent would most certainly invite Snape as a special guest, and he knew he couldn't just avoid him as well as ignore him much longer. But his thoughts adequated themselves as his mind began to wander towards a particular bookworm witch.

And he found that all week long he couldn't stop thinking about _her_.

Draco knew, since the very moment he laid eyes on Hermione Granger, she would be his downfall. He'd never expected to become so smitten with the witch, but the snog only reminded him of how much he'd missed her lips over the past 2 years. He laughed as he remembered how she had returned the kiss after a few seconds of shock, just as their first one.

_**December 1996**_

It had been a month since the first broom ride Draco had given to Hermione. The start of December had much-been joy and gaiety to Hogwarts students, specifically Gryffindors; their winning celebration always left a feeling of contempt on the House for weeks, or until the next match. Even Hermione seemed a little bit happier with the glee the close proximity of holidays brought. He knew, of course, she was still hurting badly over the weasel git. But Draco noticed, his presence was much welcomed in Hemrione's little bubble. He would see that she was comfortable in any way, and constantly thought in distractions for her mind to keep away from the red wanker.

He was glad the Dark Lord hadn't pressured him in repairing the Vanishing Cabinet wich lay in the room of requirements since last month. He was imperiated and forced into making an Unbreakable Vow, which claimed he would repair the cabinet that would allow the Death Eaters enter Hogwarts. But Voldemort had given him until the end of his sixth year to do it.

The stress that had begun to consume him over his task of killing Dumbledore had driven him to almost drop out of school. Only to return with a cursed necklace his aunt, Bellatrix, gave him "to make things easier". He'd never asked fo any of this. _Why me?_ Was his constant thought. He did believe in pure blood supremacy the majority of his life, but his mother secretly had taught him about tolerance, equality and the wrongness his father was meddled in when Draco turned fourteen.

It had changed his perspective a little bit (thing Hermione was also responsible for), but it came all too late. When his mother and him finally decided to escape and go into hiding (which was at the end of his fifth year, when his father's behaviour was the most paranoid and erratic), his father ended up in Azkaban and the Dark Lord finally recognized he had a boy close enough to Potter, inside Hogwarts, who would go unsuspected.

Draco remembered with bitterness and bile in his throat at the dark memory. Voldemort threatening he would torture and kill his mother in his eyes, then him, if he didn't accept his offer of becoming a Death Eater. "He's just a boy!" She'd screamed. And further blackmailing him, he told him they would end up with a fate worse than the Longbottoms if he didn't say yes when he was asked to kill the Headmaster. Although now that he remembers it, he could almost believe Voldemort expected him to fail. They had removed a few hairs from his head for making a Polyjuice potion, "in case" he failed to kill him. _Bloody bastard. I bet this was only a ploy of his to prove my "loyalty"._

Even though, his life was in a state of constant stress, he found Granger almost took all his worries away. He knew ever since they begun their friendship, she would make him happy and she made him want to be a better person. He, of course, couldn't tell her anything about the Death Eaters and Voldemort, not yet. In contempt of their friendship, Draco was wiser to tell, the boy that would someday (hopefully) end with Voldemort's best friend he was, in fact, a death eater and his task was to kill none other than Albus Dumbledore. He wanted to, and in these past weeks were they had been closer more than ever, she'd commented about his lack of appetite and his flimsy appearance. He'd almost told her about his mark, but he shrugged it off as stress from all the new knowledge they had to know for their N.E.W.T.s next year.

Draco decided he would make his best efforts to cheer Hermione up this sixth year instead of spending his nights thinking about his dreadful future. She would give him the sparkle he needed to endure each day in these grim months. Although Hermione's problems and worries seemed far more superficial than Draco's at the moment. He pushed his problems aside and instead put all his attention at the witch which whom he was falling for deeper and deeper as time went by.

Holidays were approaching, and even though it was still the beginning of December, they had roughly 3 weeks before the Christmas break. Staying at Hogwarts, as much as he wanted it now, wasn't a choice for him. He would have to return to _him_ to share his progress.

* * *

"What are you doing in the holidays?" Hermione asked. They were sitting in one of the quietest and isolated spots Three Broomsticks had. Savouring their butterbeer (both with a little bit of gin), both Draco and Hermione sat and chatted in the comfort of the half-empty pub.

"I don't know. I mean- my mother hasn't said anything about traveling, visiting or inviting any relatives. So I'm guessing this year it's going to be my mom and I." _I wish _he thought. Hermione looked unsure.

"I'm sorry for your father." She said sympathetically with a quiet voice.

"Well Granger, he's a Death Eater. What did you expect?" His tone came out harsher than he intended to. Hermione just nodded meekly and drank up her butterbeer_. Darn it! Now I made her sad._

"Sorry, I think I'm still a little bit touched by it." She gave him a small smile and nodded with more emotion.

"And what are _you _doing on holidays Granger?"

"I thought about staying here, maybe catch up on some reading." She said blushing. _Classic Granger, predictable bookworm. _"But I haven't spent Christmas with my parents these past years, so I'm going home and spend my holidays with them."

He looked at her and couldn't stop himself and just stared at her. The delicate witch he had in front of him, with her nose and cheeks pale red, from the cold. And her hair, by virtue of the weather, wasn't bushy but more curly and wavy. _Such insignificant things, yet they make me feel as if my body was burning all over._ He must've stayed looking at her long enough because she asked him about it.

"What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" She snapped him out of his trance.

"Uhm? Oh, it's nothing. C'mon Granger, fancy a walk with me?" He said standing up.

They strolled around some of the cottages in Hogsmeade and were near an alley close to HoneyDuckes. Even though it was barely 6 o'clock, it was already pitch dark. _Typical English weather_ he thought. The snow was silently and slowly falling as small snowflakes fell and adorned the wizard's hair and clothes. They were walking quietly, absorbing their environment as an icy breeze embraced them. Draco saw as she licked her reddish lips and tried to hug herself from the coldness of the weather. Her alabaster face contrasted with her almond hair and the white background.

"Hermione," He whispered and she looked up with bright eyes, surprised he'd used her first name.

"Hmm?" She hummed. He couldn't stop himself and grabbed her by her hand, pulling her into him, hiding further into the ally and he crashed his lips as softly as he could with hers.

He sensed she was just as surprised as when he told her he hadn't hexed Potter in the past months. She returned the kiss after some aghast seconds, with the same gentleness he was kissing her. He could savour the gin of the butterbeer that lingered on the lips and a sweet taste of sugar on the tip of her tongue. His hand went up and cupped her face and stroked softly with his gloveless hand her smooth cheekbones.

He knew both of them wanted this as badly as a caged bird waiting for freedom.

They stood there, minutes passing and her back collided with the wall; their lips never separating. She moaned when his hands caressed her curls and his tongue met hers. His lips left momentarily hers and went down kissing slowly and delicately her neck, she gasped as she enclosed her hands in his now dishevelled hair. His lips, nibbling her ear gently, found her lips again and with fervor and passion they snogged. After a few more moments of kisses, they parted away and he rested his forehead against hers, taking her hands in his, intertwining fingers.

"We could keep this a secret if you want." He said panting from the lack of air. She just smiled at him warmly and proceeded to kiss him again.

* * *

Neither Hermione nor Draco really knew what their relationship was. As days passed, they've found themselves searching for each other's eyes in the Great Hall, walking through the hallways, and in classes. Each gaze with both caring, and longing eyes.

They've decided, through a silent agreement, it would be wise they remained friends at the moment. Draco knew, it was mainly for Hermione's sake. Not that the opinion of the school mattered to them if they were dating or not, but even Draco would have fewer problems if his friends found him kissing with Granger. Her relationship with Ron was pretty much stained for the moment, and they both knew, if they dated, it wouldn't help the situation in any way. Of course, it didn't stop them being _friendlier _to one another. Draco found himself almost every day, dragging Hermione into empty halls to snog her or steal kisses from her when no one was looking their way.

Days became weeks and in a blink of an eye, it was the day the Hogwarts Express left with those students that weren't staying in the castle for holidays. Both Draco and Hermione stood in at the entrance of the deserted stone bridge, watching the Hogwarts grounds one last time before January.

"Are you going to miss me?" Draco said with puppy eyes.

"You wish." She said jokingly and lightly hit his arm.

"I… know there's still a week left for Christmas, but I wanted to give you this before you go." He said giving her a small parcel he kept in his coat, wrapped in bright red paper with a silver bow. The note said: _Hermione Granger._

"Draco… you shouldn't have… I mean- I haven't gotten anything for you yet!"

"Oh you can kiss me later, just grab it, Granger." She laughed and took the gift, opening it. A pink scarf. She took the scarf out of the parcel and examined it; it was a long, dark pink scarf, plaided with purple and other shades of pink lines. The texture was very soft, and it was warm.

"Draco, it's beautiful."

"I charmed it, so it'll always be warm. Wouldn't want you freezing to death like the other day at Hogsmeade." She blushed a deep shade of pink. "I'll wear it always. Thank you." She smiled putting on the scarf. They heard the train whistle, meaning it will be leaving in a couple of minutes.

"I guess we must go." She said. "Wait. Look up." And when she did, she saw a little branch of mistletoe growing magically above them.

"Mistletoe? You sneaky Slytherin." She said playfully.

"I wasn't sorted in that house for nothing." He said with a devious face and he kissed her.

The kiss didn't last long, but it was romantic, passionate and at the same time tender. It was a kiss that said _"I want to be with you, and one else but you."_. They were lost in their little world as their kiss spoke of their emotions their vocal chords could not. They broke the kiss and looked deep into each other's eyes as their foreheads rested against each other.

"See you in January."

_**October 1998**_

"'Mione, Ginny told me you were charmed?" Harry asked with an amused tone, at breakfast. Hermione was glad there wasn't sight of Ron. For Hermione's sake, both Harry and Ginny decided to have breakfast earlier some days, to keep Hermione company, who would rather wake up earlier than see Ron, since he decided to ignore her completely, she preferred not see him at all.

"Yes… Although as you very well _know_ the spell, I couldn't remember with whom I dreamt with." Harry blushed and bit his sausage.

"But anyways, I've been trying to pin whoever it was, and I'm pretty sure I'll hex this person once I find him… or her."

"Pretty sure, it was him, Hermione. The note you received in your birthday clearly said you were the "prettiest of girls", so I doubt a girl wrote that." Ginny said.

"Maybe…"

After a long day of school, and weird stares directed at her, Hermione sat with Ginny and Luna in the Gryffindor common room. Although Hermione was reading a book, she couldn't concentrate further, with the amount of questions the girl's asked her.

"Why did my best friend not only kissed, but snogged with Draco Malfoy and I know of it 2 weeks later?" Ginny shouted whispering.

"It's not big deal Gin, I mean, we agreed to stay friends."

"But you did date on sixth year right?" Luna asked. Both Hermione and Ginny's head turned towards the blonde witch with a shocked look.

"What?" They said in unison, not-so-quietly.

"How did you know?" Hermione and Ginny asked. Even though Hermione never admitted directly to Ginny she had something going on with Malfoy, Ginny knew there was something. And after she corned her, she finally admitted she was indeed, involved in some way with him.

"Well, it was pretty obvious the attraction you two had. Besides, I saw you two kiss three times or so, near the lake when you thought no one was looking." Hermione had an astonished look. _If Luna saw, then how many others did?_

"Don't worry Hermione, I doubt there were others seeing. I consider myself a very silent person. So I'm not easily spotted when I'm reading somewhere or anything like that. I didn't mean to eavesdrop as well, it was purely accidental." Hermione felt a little relieved at that. _Well, at least it was Luna of all people._

"So you did date then?"

"I.. well we did kiss and did all the things couples do, but we remained friends officially."

"Pity. You would do a very lovely couple."

"And if you've _snogged_ already this year, I don't see why you don't become one!" Ginny said exasperatedly.

"It's not that easy Gin, besides that I was dating your brother less than a month ago, I don't want to get into any trouble for it."

"Trouble?"

"You know… Snape?" She said and Ginny nodded knowingly.

"What about him?" Luna asked.

"Snape flipped when he caught Malfoy and Hermione almost kissing on the stairs the other day, and we don't know why," Ginny explained and Luna listened, pensive.

"Not only that, but I think the dream I had was serious in some way. I believe I almost have the answer to what it may be, but I still have to do research. I think, fangs and wings are something we've seen before." She said standing up. Ginny and Luna nodded. Without the distraction of Draco Malfoy or any kind of boy, even though every now and then Blaise would make hints at her way, Luna began putting some pieces of the puzzle together. _Could it be…?_ She thought best to kept her thoughts to herself.

* * *

The constant devoting glances Draco threw at her, and numerous amount of stolen kisses that happened in the last two weeks, made Hermione think of their sixth year. She remembered with both feelings of longing and bittersweetness at the memories. How she had cherished those memories, all before… everything shattered. She decided to dismiss those thoughts away and chose to enjoy her life. _The war is over, and Draco was never really part of Voldemort's followers, much like Snape. So I mustn't feel sorry about the past.  
_

She headed for the library, the place where she would find all of her answers. But found Draco in the way instead.

"Hey beautiful," he greeted her and kissed her knuckles, the knuckles that had hit his nose years ago. She blushed.

"Granger, there's no need to blush, I'm only telling the truth." He smiled and ever so lightly, placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Draco, I don't think this is helping us at maintaining the title of "friends" very much." _But you love it_ the back of the head told her.

"Only that, maybe I don't want that title." He said grabbing her and hiding at the nearest pillar, where no student was around.

"I don't believe, when we were at sixth grade, you cared much about what we did when we were still friends, _Hermione_." The way he used her name made her shiver.

"Well, that was different." Their lips were inches apart.

"Different how?" He whispered the words in her mouth and before she could reply his lips were on hers. She knew she couldn't deny any longer how much she'd missed his lips. The soft yet firm grip he would have on her and the seductive way his lips moved against hers made her invulnerable. By how things were turning, if she wanted to go to the library, she would have to use a charm to spruce up herself.

The memories came flooding at her like waves, all the times they would sneak into empty corners and declare with kisses how much they cared for one another.

"Draco," She breathed as his lips moved from her jaw to her neck.

"We must- someone will see." And suppressed a moan when he nibbled a soft spot.

"Let them see. Let them see you're taken. _My witch…_" The last part, he whispered it at her ear.

"But, I need- the library, my dream.." She said with a weak voice. But Draco stopped at that, and Hermione regretted it a little.

"Yeah, the weird dream you talked about." He said looking at her eyes and she nodded.

"Hermione I'm going to hex the twat that did this to you." She laughed and pushed him a little bit.

"I won't let you, I think I'm capable of doing it myself." He smiled at her words.

"As you wish, Granger." He said with a cocky grin and dragged her back into the way towards the library.

"Where are you heading by the way?"

"I think I'll pay a visit to the Slytherin common room. I bet my mates have been crying nonstop at my absence." He threw a crooked smile.

"I'm quite sure." She snorted.

"Just as you'll be after I'm gone." He smiled and kissed her one last time before he left.

"See you later in the common room."

Hermione couldn't help but bite her lip as she saw him leave.

Draco paced through the halls, into the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was. He knew he hadn't been around it for the past week, but _Merlin forbid _he liked much better to spend his time with Granger. He walked and sensed someone was following him. As he shrugged the feeling off he began walking quicker towards the common room. Just as he stood at the entrance, he saw a flash of obsidian before he entered the common room.

Snape was this close at not only hexing, but harming physically his godson, if it weren't he quickly entered the common room. He was all impregnated with _her _smell. He wasn't even near the dungeons when he smelled her. He was quite surprised at first, it wasn't common for a Gryffindor to roam around the dungeons without a particular purpose. But then as the smell came closer he could also feel something else. That's when he saw _him_ instead of her. As he got closer, he could not only smell her perfume but also a tingle of sweetness, that would be how she tasted. He, of course, not only flipped, but went livid. _How dare he?! Fondle so freely around my mate? Who does he think he is? Disobeying my orders when I explicitly told him NOT to mingle with Granger?! _Snape knew, or rather, suspected they had kissed the time he found him in the halls. But his pendant and amount of charms stopped his veela to prove his suspicions, as well as the fast exit the boy made. Snape followed Draco, and more he smelled her perfume mixed with his, more enraged he was and wanted to choke the last breath out of his godson. He knew, he had more self-control for that, and it was his veela side speaking. But he couldn't suppress the feeling it made him feel the thought of Malfoy snogging with his mate.

_I think my time to make me announced has accelerated._

* * *

Hermione spent the next hours searching in the library about creatures with fangs. She spent a good deal of time looking for vampires, but she then remembered vampires, although they had wings, they transformed into bats. But they didn't possess any wings in human form. She tried to recollect more information about her dream but knew the more the day passed, more you would forget about it. _Think Hermione, Think! What else about the fangs and wings? I was in the forest, where a delicious smell empowered me… Grey skin.. fangs… black wings and… obsidian eyes._ Hermione panicked a little bit at her realisation and strode over the restricted section, where most books about dark magical creatures sat.

Her shaking fingers passed through the spine of the books as she silently whispered,

"S…T…U…V…" She trembled when she found the book she was looking for and began to read. Her eyes widened at her suspicions when everything in her dream seemed it was taken out from the exact same book she was reading. Her face was showered with realisation and her blood turned ice cold. _It is entirely clear, the one of the dream was male… _Hermione shook her head as and tried to pinch her arm as if trying to wake up from a nightmare. But she knew she wasn't dreaming. _Why did he, whoever he is, show me a dream with a veela in it?_ She tried to push the thought away, but she already knew the answer to that.

_Why?_

* * *

**A/N: Please review if you liked it or hated it, I'll appreciate it very much!**

**P.S. I got the mistletoe idea from the movie OotP hehe **

**Also, for the ones that didn't or don't know, _Unionem phantasias_, is Latin for "Union of fantasies" or "Fantasies united" one of those two is, so you get the idea. =3**


	7. Realisation

**A/N: Hey everyone! I've the next chapter up, and I've come to the realisation I'm such an obnoxious author. Ok maybe not that much, but reading past chapters for any corrections I read my A/Ns and... no. I sound like an eight yr/old or something... *shivers* Regardless of that, this chapter will also include more of Harry, as I want for my story ****secondary characters to develop as well, not just stay in the background. I may include more of Lupin, Draco's family and Luna in the next chapters.**

**I'm hoping you're all enjoying this story as you now see it's not you typical love triangle here *nervous laugh*. I will hopefully upload in a week, (I also realised I always upload on Wednesdays, and not intentionally before) if not in less time. I want to hear your comments, opinions, ideas or whatever you like for this story. And as always, since this is the first day, and I don't have a beta, there will probably be some mistakes that I'll correct in the next days if you want to re-read the chapter later if you're reading this on Wednesday.**

**I hope you enjoy it and keep reading it ;***

* * *

"You lied to me!" Hermione shouted angrily, as she came through the Divination's class entrance, facing Trelawney, who was cleaning the crystal balls.

"Hm? Excuse me? I don't think you are in my class, are you dear?" Trelawney said, adjusting her glasses. Hermione looked at her with perplexing eyes.

"Don't you recognise me?" _How daft must this woman be for not remembering the person she had a prophecy of a month ago? _Seeing her face of confusion, fruitlessly trying to remember her, she pressed again.

"You seriously can't remember me?"

"I'm sorry dear I-"

"For Merlin's sake! I'm Hermione Granger! The person whom you "supposedly" had a prophecy of?"

"Oh yes, I do remember you know dear, how are you doing with, Malroy is it?" Hermione looked at her incredulously.

"It's _Malfoy, _and not okay! Not since I realised, your predictions are nothing but sham!" Hermione fumed. Her face was flushed with anger and even though she was never rude towards teachers, Trelawney caused great indignation in the young witch.

"I don't understand, I know Divination isn't always precise but a pro-"

"Bullocks!" Hermione threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "I knew I made the right choice dropping your class in third year! After all this years, I even believed you for a second. To think this woolly subject wasn't actually worthless-" She stopped, noticing she was now trembling, and before she said something she would further regret, she stopped speaking. She took sharp breaths to calm down and stared at the teacher.

"My child, you seem rather troubled in your mind…" She said taking Hermione's hand in hers, and if the touch caused it, she entered in a trance mode. Hermione, not caring about this, said,

"Troubled?" She said, in half a whisper with a high pitched tone, taking her hand away from hers. "The troubled one is you if you think you can predict the future!" She backed away and made her way out of the classroom, only to be stopped by Trelawney's words.

"Thou who won't see yet the true eyes of love, who is blinded by false infatuation. Thou shall see soon... Your destiny is not to be with your current relationship of untrue emotions. Your true destiny lies at the side of a dear devoted friend. Thou must take away you blindfold and _see_." _I already heard this. I don't need repetition of this rubbish_ Hermione angrily thought. She reached the doorknob when she heard Trelawney's words again.

"But beware of the road happiness leads. Torn between the heart and love of two souls thou shall find theeself. Only one soul will remain broken in the end." _What? I didn't even tell her about the dream…_ She shook her head as she exited the room whispering "Bugger."

Hermione sat in one of the small stairs in one of the endless corridors of the castle. As soon as she touched the ground, tears slipped from her eyes and fell, adorning her face and robes. _How could this happen to me? _In all of Hermione's life, the thing she thought it would bring her fewer problems was her love life. Now it seemed her life practically revolved around it. She hadn't meant to cry endlessly, but the shock, the overwhelming feeling of her newfound discovery and her exploding towards a _teacher_, were enough for her to momentarily collapse. She made a mental note, to apologise to Ms Trelawney, later on, she was never rude to any teacher (with Umbridge as the exception). Not only did her love for Ron wasn't romantic, and she was falling in love with Draco, but she had an admirer, and not just _any _admirer, a Veela. _How am I supposed to handle all of this?_ She grasped her hair and head and felt a little breeze around here. _Ghosts… _She looked up and saw Nearly Headless Nick approaching her gently from the corridor's end.

"Sir Nicholas, good afternoon," She politely said wiping her tears away.

"I heard crying back there and I came," He said sitting next to her. "Is everything all right dear Hermione?" She smiled at her friend.

"It's nothing really, I… just remembered never to trust a seer." She laughed humourlessly.

"Oh? And why is that?" The ghost inquired, now curious. She thought before talking,

"Well, I had a prophecy and when I realised it couldn't be true, Ms Trelawney just covered it up by telling me "the continuation" of I don't know…"

"I know, me dear Hermione, divination is not always precise, but it doesn't mean untrue. I know some methods to predict the future aren't very _reliable_, but when it comes to prophecies, we seers can't really help it, we actually do _see_ the future."

"I suppose- wait. Did you just say…?" Sir Nicholas nodded. "But I thought you were…"

"Muggle-born? I am, or rather, was." He laughed and she blushed.

"My child, even though we are Muggle-born we are still wizards. Just as any other half-blood or pure-blood, the amount of magic in ourselves is the same. That been said, just as you are an average witch, you could've been born a seer or even a metamorphmagus. It doesn't matter if you are Muggle-born or the daughter of pure-blood royalty. Why would you think then I was in the royal court being Muggle-Born? Being a seer is extremely rare if you ask." He further laughed and Hermione couldn't help but look away in embarrassment_. What a silly question to ask, of course, the chances for a Muggle-Born would be the same as a Pure-blood or Half-blood! _

"But then, if you are indeed a seer, why didn't you teach us Divination? Professor Cuthbert Binns is a ghost and he's still teaching." _Although his class is the most boring…_

"At the time the position was offered, I was much more interested in other _affairs,"_ Hermione decided not to question him about it "And teaching is not something I am genuinely keen of."

"I would've much more preferred to have you in Divination than Trelawney in my third year." She said and he smiled.

"I know you would have. But in reality, I never did experience with all branches of Divination, so even if I wanted, I couldn't teach things like crystal-gazing or cartomancy, which is essentially what is taught here. And even if I did, I couldn't do so with the same accuracy as I know palmistry, dream interpretation and fire-omens."

"It doesn't matter," Hermione, not crying anymore, laughed. "I think anything is better than listening to the daft woman predict nothing but sham." She said with a bitter tone. _Even though I wasn't very… nice to her, I still can't forgive I believed in her. _

"I must question, why is it you believe her words are nothing but sham?" Hermione looked up at the ghost meditating if she should trust him with what's being going on in her life. She sighed, deciding to start from the beginning.

"Well… At the beginning of the term, I was dating Ron." She paused

"Right, you separated not too long ago I believe?"

"Yes, it's true. And the reason is, _mainly _the result of a prophecy Trelawney said to me. In my sixth year, I was sort of involved with Draco Malfoy, but then after the war I became Ron's girlfriend. And I love him, I still do, but after the prophecy I realised my love for him is fraternal. I believe his feelings for me are the same.. But it didn't end well. Anyways, the prophecy said my destiny or happiness was with Draco. I decided to believe in it and right now we are more-less like we were before, in sixth grade."

"I'm sensing a big but at the end of this," Sir Nicholas said and Hermione laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah. But, the other day I found out I was charmed with a sleep spell that joins consciousness by I don't who! And not only that, but lately I've noticed that someone has been spying or watching me. And I believe it is the same person as the dream." She finished.

"And why would this _stalker_ as you put it, be any problem between Draco and you, or the prophecy?" He said and she looked sadder with her next words,

"That's the catch. I did some research and the person who charmed me nicely enough, is none other than a Veela. And I do very well know that the only interesting thing for a Veela when already developed is their mate. I don't think a veela would just happen to fancy me and just show me he is one. And after confronting Trelawney, she kindly "told," me the end of the prophecy she had of me. Not only I'm pissed that she lied to me, but I fear I may well be some Veela's mate, and I know they can't live without them!" Tears were already forming again in the witch's eyes and she was shaking. "I just don't know what to do. I've already asked Firenze for help, but I doubt I will be able to do it again." She said whispering.

Sir Nicholas sensed the young witch had been passing through moments of great stress. Ghosts, for some reason, were more sensible of human things than they were before, in their mortal lives. It was as if he could almost sense the same emotions she was passing through, and given their close proximity he could detect it was great stress she was feeling.

"Hermione I can nearly feel what you are feeling right now and it is not pleasant in any way. I want to help you, and I may not be a very skilled seer nor have the same power as centaurs have, as to deal with divination but," He smiled "I am, or was as either way you want to say it, a dearly skilled Legilimens." She looked up at him. "You will do that?"

"Yes, I'll look up your memories and the prophecy, and I believe that'll be enough for me to interpret from there." She nodded _Gods I feel so hopeless, having everyone "help" me in my situation, very much alike a Muggle's soap opera. _

Hermione felt Sir Nicholas trying to pass through her barriers in her mind, not harshly, but persistently. She wasn't a very skilled Occlumens, but she was trained for a few months on the basics if anyone of the order was captured by Voldemort and forced into questioning. She let her barriers down gently and led the way into her memories. It wasn't like with Firenze, when the centaur saw, he already knew what memories to search and how to look, with Near Headless Nick, she had to slightly remember the memories and he would do the rest.

Hermione passed through the hallways, too dizzy and bewildered to even walk straight. She thought she was going to the library, but her feet dragged her towards her chambers. She thought about what Sir Nicholas had said to her. She couldn't deny it anymore. Not only she had the reassurance of three seers regarding her prophecy, apparently as the dream had "showed" her, a veela was indeed the other participant of the dream. _A veela… _Hermione thought. She had no idea how to deal with her situation. Just as she was (or already was) falling in love with Draco, she finds out she is a veela's mate. _I can't just leave the veela to die.. can I?_ She also didn't have the remotest idea of how much veela blood does it has. _I mean, if it's not a full blooded veela, it won't cause enough trouble if I don't bond with him would it..? _She shook her head, she was dizzy enough and the news themselves overwhelmed her enough to think properly. She was too distracted to notice the dark eyes, which had a concerned curiosity, following her as she stumbled on one student or two, slowly making her way towards her chambers. _Gods Hermione, you're tripping on everyone, get a grip on yourself! _She stopped, took a few breaths in and continued walking only to collide with a black, soft wall. "S-Sorry!"

She looked up and she gasped when her eyes met with dark, obsidian ones.

* * *

Harry was sitting on the Great Hall, seeming quite empty, he decided to do his homework there, but couldn't focus as thoughts of Ron and Hermine came flooding his mind every 5 minutes. He was never an expert dealing with strained friendships before, and even though he defeated Voldemort 5 months ago, his social skills hadn't developed _much. _He cared dearly for both Hermione and Ron, but he knew their friendship won't be renewed until they decide to do so, and both of them were _very_ stubborn. Well, maybe Hermione wasn't _that_ stubborn, but if Ron decided to ignore her completely she wasn't going to wait forever until he realised he was making a mistake, Harry knew that much, and he admired her for that. But he hated the times when Ron and Hermione decided not to speak to one another, as he was forced to divide his time with each other.

He was glad Hermione was mature enough to try and resolve the problem. But failed to do so, as Ron wasn't as mature as her and still continued to ignore her as he did whenever he was mad at her. Harry sighed _If I don't do something, Hermione might not want to come at all to the Burrow this Christmas. And Ron would only make things uncomfortable,_ But regardless of his best friends' quarrels, he was happy with the outcome of his life so far.

After the defeat of Voldemort, many students, magical creatures, teachers and helpful wizarding citizens, helped rebuild Hogwarts. The school was almost reconstructed the way it was before the war, at ends of August. Even in October, there were still people who were in the castle, rebuilding some unfinished areas, and on free weekends, many students helped as well. Not only was Hogwarts devastated after the war, the ministry asked for help from the consulate of other countries and magic areas around the world. They help rebuild Diagon Alley, Gringotts and also helped families who had lost everything in the war. _Just like after a Muggle war, _thought Harry, _governments from other countries help reconstruct what was left in the war countries. _But just like any other war, the process of recovering was rather slow. Hogwarts was the fastest structure to regain stability though, it was urgent the students didn't remain without classes as well as staying without proper education. It's the only wizarding school in the United Kingdom after all, and many couldn't afford send their children off to other countries. Everything else came afterwards.

Harry, as well as Ron, wanted to become an Auror after the war, and they both were at the brink of dropping out of Hogwarts at all, but Hermione insisted having their N.E.W.T.s would help them a lot even though Kingsley had much assured them a position in the ministry.

Remus agreed to help them with their Auror training, but he decided training will start until ends of November. He wanted some time grieving Tonks, as well as deciding what exactly he was going to do with Teddy. Growing up with an Auror was dangerous enough, and it was even more with an Auror who was not just a single parent, but a werewolf. Molly, Andromeda, Bill and Fleur agreed to take care of Teddy in the weeks of full Moon and while Remus had work or other affairs that kept him busy for taking care of Teddy. Harry, being his godfather, also volunteered to take care of him once he got out of Hogwarts _Poor Teddy, being a war baby and having a single parent left him being raised by many people_. Harry had inherited Grimmauld Place, and even though it still served as one of the Order's safe-houses, Harry settled to reside in it permanently together with Hermione, who decided she would live there until she found a place of her own.

He thought about living there with Ginny too. He was entirely sure he loved the girl, and although their official relationship wasn't that long, he knew there wasn't any other witch he would choose as a wife. He thought about marrying her, and even though they were still young to do so, he knew he wanted to propose to her in a year or so, having found his family heirloom in one of Sirius' little boxes he gave him in his fifth year. The box said "The Potters". He'd told him it was all they could recover after the attack, and he told him too, the ring belonged to the Potter family. It was an engagement ring that had been passed through generations and now it was Harry's turn to give it to his future bride. _I can imagine my life with her…_ he started daydreaming and was taken away from his dream by a pat on his back from Ron.

"What is it, Ron?" Harry asked half-annoyed he was taken away from his daydream.

"Dean was asked, to ask you which of the 2 strategies were proposed was going to be the final for the match against the Hufflepuffs this next month." Harry sighed. He still couldn't understand why new players decided to come to him instead of Ginny, who was the actual team captain. _Oh she is going to be mad when she hears about it._

"I'm not definitely sure, why don't ask Ginny? She is the team captain after all. But I'm hoping it'll most probably be the circle one, it has made us won many times. Haven't got time to discuss it with Ginny really, I've still got my mind wrapped up in what McGonagall said."

"You mean the thing with the death eaters and the murders against Muggle-Borns?" Ron said whispering, sitting down beside Harry.

"Yeah." _Thinking about it, even though the war is over, the few death eaters left did pose though still small, a menacing threat._

"Don't break yourself on that mate. If we defeated Voldemort, kicking some death eater's arse will be a doddle."

"I guess, but still, even though there a few murders, they are still innocent victims. It could be anyone for what we know. And if we don't stop it before we go out from Hogwarts, it might not only grow, but they might target someone dear to us. What if Hermione was next? Would you still be relaxing if they killed her?" Harry could see the sudden paleness the redhead wizard had in his face. He knew Hermione was still a soft spot for conversation, but this wasn't child play, Hermione was in fact, still in danger. And Harry wasn't going to sit, take his tea, and wait for the danger to suddenly go away.

"W-Well no, but she's the most intelligent witch of our generation! Or so they say, and I think she can take care of herself on her own." Harry just looked at his best friend open mouthed.

"You did not just said that about Hermione! She's like my sister! And you love her! Don't be such a prat about her just because she left you. Grow some pants and accept the fact you weren't made for each other." Harry finally said. He'd never expected to bash Ron verbally like that, but he was dense enough to ignore the danger she was going through if they were still fighting.

Ron took a bright red colour on his cheeks, changing then to purple, after finally setting on his normal pinky tone he always has. Visibly calm again Harry spoke,

"Sorry, mate. Didn't mean to sound so hard, but Ron, you must realise we aren't completely safe yet. Forget for a minute your quarrel with 'Mione and take a look at the bigger picture."

"I know Harry, and I know I'm being a git because she wants to talk to me but I'm still ignoring her… I don't want our friendship to end, and I've given much thought about it and I think she was right. We love each other as brothers, but I'm not ready yet to take things back as they were." Ron said with a small smile.

"It's alright Ron, take your time. She'll understand."

* * *

Hermione's thoughts were far from euphoria and comfort. Instead, she met the obsidian eyes with a renewed sense of tremor and shock. She didn't want to move a single muscle nor breath in order for the dark wizard in front of her didn't hex her, or worse- speak at all. She didn't know why she was feeling this, as she was the one who told Harry he wasn't really dead and called for a mediwitch, she also helped clean his name. But right know she was oozing with a fear she didn't know the exact source of.

The wizard in front of her seemed quite taken aback too. As if he didn't expect her to collide against him, or touch in any other way. She took a look in his eyes and saw they were slowly, yet discreetly, turning bright black. Even the white in his eyes _Bright obsidian eyes… _as she was slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together, she smelled a scent more delicious than Amortentia itself. She breathed in, and even though her senses were now all groggy, the little logic she had left in her mind was capable to wash her over with realisation.

When Severus approached Hermione in concern, he didn't notice she hadn't seen him and stumbled against him. Both of them fully clothed, the touch still did make an effect on Severus, his body went rigid and he tried not to breath, he was so close to her smell, it might trigger something in his mind and magic, he couldn't control. He was glad the hallway was now empty, he had his pendant on and he made sure to take five calming draughts before he approached her. At the same time as her, he looked down and meeting her beautiful brown eyes let the smallest gasp his lips would allow. The little air with her scent that came in his nostrils was enough to fill his brain of her perfume. He knew, it was too much magic for the pendant to bear and he felt his eyes turning black and knew she could see them. The pendant, being quite old, couldn't bear the magic anymore and Severus heard the slightest *crack* the pendant made, breaking itself. He couldn't stop himself, and even though he was still under the vague effects of the calming draught, he released some of his magical pheromones that would attract his mate. He could see the immediate impact they took on Hermione, her pupils dilated, her cheeks flushed and she parted her lips. She looking at him no quite dreamily, but with a renewed curiosity and affection, as if she was inspecting him. Even though the pendant was now broken, some of its magic still worked, so the pheromones he released were not enough. He could see Hermione let out the tiniest gasps he's ever heard, and saw her eyes momentarily flashed with fear and concern.

_She knew_

Severus tried with all his might stop his veela from snogging her right on the spot and take her to his chambers, to comfort her fears away. He quickly casted a Confundus charm on himself momentarily, making himself stop releasing pheromones and as the effects wore off. Hermione shook out of her trance, looked at him with aghast and frozen eyes before she understood the why of his actions and fled the scene as fast as her feet would give.

Severus went and sat on the nearest bench, composing himself before his meeting with Minerva. _It's a loss, a complete loss, I've ruined it_ he miserably thought. Without the pheromones, he'd seen the appalled look on the girl and he knew if he'd any chance at all with the witch he'd ruined it. He remembered when he was young, the similar thoughts he had regarding his loss of hope about finding love.

_**Ends of March 1978**_

It had been two years since Lily stopped talking to him and a year with two months since he knew he was a _veela. My life couldn't be bloody better _he thought playing with the pendant between his fingers. After his seventeenth birthday, he began noticing changes in his body that would normally appear when reaching puberty. But these felt slightly different. He noticed he was stronger, his magical abilities grew, making him even more skilled in all of his subjects, his senses also sharpened, and he realised his looks were also somewhat better. He looked more handsome, his hair was a tad less greasy and his skin also looked less sallow but being an outcast, nobody really noticed him. At the start, he didn't know what was causing his sudden physical changes but seeing the Dark Lord was pleased with his outcome, he didn't even bother to look his signs up. _If this continues as exceptionally as it has been, I'll receive the dark mark in no time_ Severus had thought somewhat happily.

The part of his body changes that weren't pretty were his fangs. Those _did_ hurt. _A lot_. He was reading a book silently near the lake when an insufferable pain took over in his mouth and jaw. He fell to the ground, not being able to cast any pain-relieving charms on himself and he clasped his mouth with his hands. A bypassing girl, saw him, and fearing he might have seizures, called Mme. Pomfrey for help. After rushing him to the hospital wing he fell unconscious.

_"The poor boy has been been in pain since he got here." Madame Pomfrey had said to Dumbledore._

After arriving at the Hospital wing, she noticed the source of his pain. As Severus screamed, she saw the pointy fangs the wizard was growing and also saw his skin turning slightly grey. Fearing a vampire was roaming in the grounds of Hogwarts and had bitten a student, she noticed the Head Master, to come immediately as a matter of urgency.

"_I fear Mr. Snape has been either bitten by a vampire, or transforming into a veela." She'd said. " I can't be completely sure though. I know veelas have a much longer and painful process of transformation, and I don't recall his mother being one when she studied here. But if he were transforming into a vampire, his eyes would already be crimson by now." She informed Dumbledore. _

_"I doubt there is a vampire in our grounds Poppy, the school reports the headmaster in charge, of any creature entering the school grounds who wasn't registered before. I believe it's the other way around. If he has veela ancestry and his blood is awakening, we must inform his family immediately." Dumbledore said watching the now sleeping boy, who had a pained look on his face, and marched away to inform his family._

Severus remembered, the day his mother told him his true nature, crying for his unfortunate future. After running away momentarily into the rain, he reluctantly returned to his home, his mother made him swear he wouldn't tell his father. _"You know how your father is, he despise us enough because we are magical, and if he found out we're not 100% human…"_

Severus knew his father and mother always fought, they did when he wasn't home, hey did when he _was_ home and he presumed they did even before he was born. He never really understood why his mother married him. Not only was he always drunk and angry, but he was a _Muggle_. His mother told him, he wasn't like that when they met. He was nicer, and although he was hard-natured, we wasn't nasty. She told him it all changed, when she revealed she was a witch, he didn't want to do anything with her anymore but she found out she was pregnant with Severus. And it explained his horrendous childhood, friendless, for the exception of Lily.

After a long talk with his maternal grandfather, he decided to actually give it a go with his veela blood and decided to find his mate. When he returned to Hogwarts, he tried to look for his mate (with the hope of it being Lily), but returned home that summer with a bitter disappointment when none of his classmates or any student in the school was his mate.

His uncle told him he didn't need to worry, quarter veelas sometimes didn't find their mates and it was somewhat fine. Severus wouldn't live as long as his peers _but_, he wouldn't face the heart-broken death half, three-quarters and full veelas faced when they didn't find theirs_. So much relief_ he thought sarcastically. He gave him then, the pendant, the amber pendant with the enough power to suppress his ability to find his mate.

If he thought having now inhuman powers or magic would do his life better, he thought wrong. Even with the little appraisal the Dark Lord gave him over the others, Severus knew he couldn't take away the pain in his chest of a broken heart. He didn't care about veelas dying of a broken heart, he was pretty much already dead inside, having the girl you love completely avoid and ignore you. Severus, still regretting the memory of his fifth year, wanted so desperately to be in possession of a time turner. Even though he was a veela or whatever, if he had one, he could've easily avoided his worst moment of all his life until now. The punishments and dark magic performed on him by the Dark Lord meant nothing to the shattering of his soul. Little by little the pieces of his broken soul left his body, leaving him miserable. He didn't care he was starting to sound like a girl, but he learned, _If you want to succeed in life, conceal, conceal, __conceal__ your feeling at all costs…_

_If there is a god of any kind in this world, he must surely hate me, _were his constant thoughts as he passed through the halls of Hogwarts watching with hatred and misery the repulsive hand of Potter intertwined with Lily's.

He wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, but he was sure somewhere over the past summer they had become a couple, because the first thing he saw on the first day of his seventh year was the horrid view of them _snogging_. But even if he wanted to hex the bloody swine away from his ex-best friend, he knew since the moment he discovered he was a veela, he wasn't meant to love nor be loved.

_And I thought entering Hogwarts would be my road towards happiness. I guess, my mother was right, I'm meant to be unfortunate for the rest of my life. _

_**October 1998**_

Hermione spent the rest of the day wrapped up in blankets, reading non-stop in the little common room the head students had. She tried reading the biggest, most tiresome Arithmancy and rune books she could find in the library. After the _unexpected_ encounter with…Snape, she found herself in the library. Almost mechanically, she picked up the books that would most probably keep her mind away from what just happened. After retrieving an obscene quantity out from the library, as mechanical as in the library, she entered the common room and immersed herself in the world of runes and magical mathematics. She managed to keep Draco away for a few hours, telling him she might have an apprenticeship concerning Arithmancy and she wanted to be prepared. This worked of course for almost 6 hours, but Draco knew her well enough to suspect there was more to it than just "educational reading".

"Ok Granger, so what really is happening inside your head? I don't think those books are for a possible apprenticeship, I believe they're more of a distraction." Draco said, removing the current book she was reading, too numb to immediately process what was going on.

"Uh? S-sorry?"

"You see? You weren't even paying attention to the book! Granger, before I lose my head here, care to explain what is going on in yours?"

"I…." Hermione's mind was spinning with overwhelming thoughts creeping inside from past days and before she could feel anything, Draco was touching her cheeks with her hands.

"Why are you crying?" He softly asked. _Crying?_ Her hands went up to her face, and she felt the cool, wet droplets falling from her eyes. _I'm crying…_ She felt her vision getting blurry, from the now unstoppable tears she was crying.

"I-I'm sorry D-Draco."

"What for?"

"I don't believe being together will help much in the future." _Being together…_ Hermione realised the past actions his godfather had in the past when they almost kiss, and she realised now the _why_. She couldn't help herself as heavier tears rolled down on her face and she began sobbing.

"Hermione? Hermione, what's wrong? You can tell me. And why can't we be…together?" Draco spoke in a soft, yet pained voice. Hermione hated hearing him like this. She wanted to tell him so badly but she knew she couldn't, not yet. _I can't tell him I'm practically his godfather's source of living!_

"Draco… remember the dream… I had?"

"The dream of the charm you had?" She nodded her head.

"I found… something about it really disturbing, yet true. And I believe its meaning might jeopardise our current relationship." Draco's face hardened for a moment but then relaxed when she touched his arm.

"Why would a dream jeopardise the best thing that has ever happened in my life?" She blushed and her heart did a flip over as it pounded against her rib cage. She felt happy for a moment, but grimly remembered her life did an 180º turn _again_.

"Do you know who cast it?"

"A veela." She spoke without emotion in her voice. There, she said it. _At least he will understand why I'm reacting like this_.

"A _veela_?" Draco's blood turned icy cold and he felt he couldn't breathe anymore. Even though he didn't exactly pay much attention to the lesson about them, he understood the general layouts of them.

"Are you entirely sure about it?" She nodded and he grasped his hair in his hands.

"I-I don't know what to…" He suddenly stopped "And you know _who_ it was?" She stood silently with eyes that could not lie.

"Hermione, do you know who it was?" He pressed taking her shoulders softly in his hands and she kept silent with teary eyes.

"You _know_ who it is!" He spoke alarmed yet without any aggression.

"Please tell me." He said softly at last, and she shook her head as more tears fell down

"I-" They heard a knock on their door and Hermione felt relieved she escaped briefly from the interrogation. She wiped her damp face as Draco went and answered the door. She silently cast a cleaning spell on her face when she heard Draco calling her.

"Granger? McGonagall is calling us to the Head Master office."

"Both of us?" she said in a small voice.

"Yes, the message said it was urgent." She nodded and they made their way towards the office.

Hermione was arm crossed, clutching her chest and was silent the whole way. She didn't only feared Draco would speak any time by now but also feared she knew McGonagall wasn't only one headmaster in charge now. They reached the office and silently thanked Merlin, there was no Snape. _Snape... _a shiver went down her spine with the sole thought of his name.

In the room, they were Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Minerva.

"You wanted to see us… Minerva?" She managed to say, hesitating on her name.

"Oh yes, Hermione." The witch said a little bit delighted she at last spoke in first name basis.

"I've wanted Severus to be here as well, but he told me dismally so, he couldn't accompany us tonight. Some matters with the Order, I believe or something of the sort he said." Hermione didn't look up, as she _guessed_ the why of the absence of the Headmaster. Either way, she was glad he wasn't here.

"Back to the topic, what I'm going to inform you must be keep in secrecy and it is only to be spoken within the Order, and well, some of you who most probably join in the future." The six wizards nodded and she continued. "I'm very sorry to inform you, four Muggle-Born wizards, who didn't return this year to Hogwarts, were found dead in a town close to Diagon Alley. The Creevey brothers included." Hermione gasped. Meanwhile Harry and Ron only looked down, with a hard expression, Ginny and Luna, only looked sad.

"I know Colin was a friend of yours, but this is why I called all of you. Students here are protected, and even though some Aurors are patrolling Hogsmeade from time to time, we can't afford losing more innocent lives. We must take full precaution, and even more in the winter holidays, where most students leave the castle." McGonagall continued, speaking about some security measures that should be taken before any other attack, but Hermione didn't want to listen to all of this anymore.

_Life can sometimes have so many unexpected twists…_

* * *

**A/N: Hate it? Love it? Pleaase leave me your thoughts about the chapter. I'll make me very happy :)**


	8. Avoiding eyes

**A/N: Meine Leser! I've uploaded earlier than I thought I would! I don't know, inspiration just hit me like a rock or something, but I can say, I've been doing nothing but write these past days. I'm happy to see this story is developing, and your support as readers. I must say though, the first paragraphs may be a little trippy, I wrote them close to 2-3 in the morning so yeah... But in the morning I saw what I'd written, and it didn't look bad, so I left it (I secretly love writing dreams). **

**As always, suggestions, comments, opinions or whatever you wish to say to me or about the story, I'll receive them with my arms wide open. AND as always, the first readers might (quite possibly actually) find mistakes I'll correct. **

**Q&amp;A: Dem Bones: Yes, I know it is very tragic, and I too have troubled feelings I thought I would never have about this love triangle. But Hermione isn't only the latest notch on Draco's belt as he cares deeply for her. But anyways, I also thought what you said about pairing up Snape with someone who'll appreciate him but, what makes you jump to the sudden conclusion Hermione will reject him? You'll have to wait and read to find out! Muahahahahahahaha**

**Please enjoy and review :* (longest chapter so far yaaas)**

* * *

_Bliss. A never ending feeling of peace and calmness passing through the wind. __Nothing can stop me now, I'm invincible…__ he thought. Fully clothed with white garments, he was floating, white feathers falling from the white, bright sky, embellishing the little black pine trees sitting in the white space around him. Walking slowly, his bare feet could feel the white snow-like ground filled with feathers below them. The smell of vanilla combined with lavender became stronger as he walked, and he willingly approached the scent. __The scent which dazes me, and calls my name…__ As he looked deeper into the space with scattered black pines and falling feathers he could see her sitting by a little pond with translucent water. She looked up at him, and their eyes locked, filled with emotion. Also barefooted, she wore a thin white dress, emphasizing her brown curls. Her hair was ornamented and tangled with the white feathers, and she smiled at his sight. He came closer to her, and she extends her hand as if to guide him somewhere. _

_As they were walking through the pines, he could sense her hardening the grip she had on his hand. "Hermione…" He whispered and she turned around, with her soft rosy lips parted and her deep brown eyes glassy. He caressed her smooth cheek with his finger, and she smiled, a crystal clear tear falling from her eye, dropping on the floor, making a red water ring. She stood tip-toe and only when her face was inches from his, he felt her sweet, velvety lips. Although quite lovingly, the touch only lasted mere moments, as when he opened his eyes, she was already walking away from him, straight into the pines._

_He called her name one last time "Hermione!" before she looked at him with sad eyes, as a big, black, faceless being, with and enormous pair of obsidian feathered wings cloaked her completely and disappeared into nothingness. He tried to reach out for her, but couldn't, as he was now swimming, drowning into the single tear she shed before evaporating with the black, faceless winged entity._

_He tried to scream for her, reach for her, but the oxygen in his lungs wasn't enough. His bravery wasn't enough. _

_ Wasn't enough to save her._

Draco woke up with sweaty clothes, and his heart was almost escaping his rib cage. He took a moment to process his dream, and he looked at his surroundings, his eyesight still a little blurry with white spots at his sudden awakening. _This damned dream. The situation is getting on my nerves, I must know who is this veela._ It was a Saturday, and the sun was making its way into his room, by the little room his heavy dark curtains allowed. _Bloody sun _he mentally cursed. The overflowing sunlight that illuminated his room wasn't much. But it certainly made a huge difference comparing it with Slytherin's dorms, which laid on the dungeons.

He missed that about them. He missed the darkness about them, but besides that, he liked his new chambers better. Not only he liked them better because he had a whole room for himself in the school, but he got to be closer to Granger, _and_ it was certainly warmer. It's not like he despised the cold, his manor was naturally cold, and being in the dungeons, the humidity and being underground played a big role on that too. And it didn't matter if the fire in the Slytherin common room was always lit, it was always cold in there. He got accustomed by it, always feeling somewhat cold, but he certainly did welcome the new warmness with open arms. But having a warm space _did not_ mean he welcomed the sun rays. At all.

He finally got out of his bed and remembered painfully the events of last night. Poor Hermione was not only stressed out enough with the damn veela thing, but death eaters were still roaming around, and she wasn't safe. He knew she was a strong witch, but even the smartest and the toughest witch of all, had moments of weaknesses. Draco wanted so badly to question her about the veela. _She knew_, and it was very clear she wanted to keep it to herself. _But why? Who could it possibly be that she doesn't want me to know? Is it someone I know? _

Draco shook his head and dressed himself. He decided to go for something to eat and bring something to Hermione too. Yesterday she wasn't at dinner, and he knew she had been too engrossed in her books to keep her distracted. _And those were the times I didn't catch her, I don't know how many meals she has been skipping already. _After returning from the meeting with McGonagall, she politely asked him to please refrain from any questioning. She was too tired for it. So after she had said goodnight and her door was shut closed, he supposed she had slept immediately, for he didn't hear a sound.

* * *

Pacing around the corridors, Draco's mind went to his bushy bookworm. He'd hoped to buy Hermione something nice to comfort her. Not that he didn't know how to emotionally or physically do so, but it was a pure-blood courtesy to buy something mildly expensive to those dear to them when they were passing through moments of difficulty. He knew his father would just shake his head and disinherit him if he found out about it. Draco could almost hear him saying, _"That Mudblood she calls herself a witch? What would your ancestors think of this? I knew I've should have put you in Durmstrang! I've should've put you in marriage contract! That way your children would've been born pure! But your mother insisted on leaving it up to you. I believed in her. Believed my son would make me proud of the name Malfoy, but I was wrong. Tsk, a person who has gone softy with mudbloods, is useless to bare even the name Malfoy!" _Even though he knew his father couldn't disinherit him because practically everything now belonged to Draco, the ministry still gave his father power to control over his galleons.

He couldn't just go to Gringotts and ask for his fortune; it wasn't that simple. Apart that he was in Hogwarts and couldn't have the power until he left, most of the properties and things his father owned had to be processed and things like that. Draco sighed. _Mum is in real need for a new manor, and I can't wait to sever all ties with the death eaters' contracts and such my father had._

Reaching the Great Hall, he took a seat at the Slytherin table and was glad he found Blaise in it. _A refreshing talk to refresh the mind_ he thought before sitting himself beside him.

Draco found he couldn't quite concentrate himself on Blaise though. He couldn't stop feeling the glare the Weaselette was sending him over the Gryffindor table. He sighed, and excusing himself, he walked to the Gryffindor table and decided to ask her about it.

"What is it red? I know we couldn't care less about each other, but Granger made me promise not to insult you, and here you are, keep sending glares at me." She looked up at him, with piercing eyes but said nothing. "What is it?" He pressed, not minding being nice at all.

"Well, Hermione didn't make_ me_ promise her anything, _ferret_. And it's nothing, you imagine things." She said venomously, looking away.

"Yeah, like I would believe that. I am sure your glances of pity and confusion towards me mean something. Have you finally realised Potter is nothing but a wanker and decided to fancy me?" Her face went red with anger and with a half-laugh he continued, "Sorry to disappoint, but I already have my mind set with another witch far more charming and intelligent than _you_. But I could present you my friend Blaise over there. I'm sure talking all day about Quidditch will keep your mind entertained for the day." Draco knew he had pushed it too far, for the redhead slammed her book down the table and stood up to face him, taking out her wand and pointing it at him.

"Listen Malfoy! I don't care for any of your friends, and I couldn't care less for you! Hermione is my best friend, and my duty is to be civil towards you. _But_, say one more thing about Harry, and I won't even bother to think twice before hexing your arse!" She said at last with defying eyes and her wand firmly raised at him. _The girl does have a temper; I'll give her credit for that _Draco thought and looked at her with narrow eyes.

"Fine, I'll leave my honest thoughts of Potter aside _if_ you tell me why were you glaring me as if I were to explode… And keep your wand away from me."

"I wasn't glaring at you because your head is going to explode nor because I fancy you," She said with and indignant face. _As if it would offend her_ thought Draco and she continued "I just happened to see you and remembered that you may have competition now. That's all. I may be a _little _sorry for you because as hard as I want to admit, you do make a lovely couple. So if that's a pitying look, then yes, I was glancing your way with pitiful eyes." She told him with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed. _Wait, she knew? _

"So, you're telling me you know who this veela is?" She looked at him mildly surprised.

"A veela? What are you ranting about? I was talking about her secret admirer."

"A secret admirer?" He said with aversion.

"Yes. The admirer that won't stop looking at her and sent her that birthday message. We are certain he is in our potions class. That's where she told me she could feel the glare the most." _That must be the veela Hermione talked about. In our potions class? I couldn't imagine any bleeder from our class to be a veela._

"Are you sure it was in your potions class?"

"Yes. Hermione told me she could feel his glare from time to time, and she felt it the strongest in that class. We were going to find out who it was, but since then, Snape hasn't given us the silent treatment, so we haven't found him." Draco looked pensive and frowned. _So if anything, some pillock of our class is a veela. I must too, be on the lookout for this… rival. _Ginny took him out of his thought.

"You said something about a veela. What about it? Is Hermione's admirer one?" _Apparently Granger hasn't told her._

"I… can't be sure. But if you're so interested, why don't ask _her_?" Draco said before grabbing a plate of cheerios and a biscuit for Granger before leaving.

"I might as well do," Ginny said under her breath when Draco left.

* * *

It was almost noon when Hermione finally woke up. She was feeling not only tired, but moody as hell too. She didn't want to talk to anybody, and she was hoping to disappear and instead live in a dimension where she was a lovely house cat and didn't have the need to worry about human emotions. She looked up to Crookshanks, who was sitting quite comfortably at the end of her bed, and she stretched herself to pet him. "If only I could be you… the only thing I would have to worry about is to look after my next pray." She whispered to him_. But it's nonsense, and it's irresponsible as such. I can't just ignore the facts that lay right in front of me! _She finally went out of her room, almost an hour later, not minding her hair nor the fact she was still wearing pajamas. She made her way to the common room and saw Draco sitting on the couch and reading a book.

"Good morning sleeping beauty. I must say, you look quite ravishing and refreshed today." He said mockingly and she just glared at him.

"Shut up Malfoy, I'm not in the mood." She said sitting at the other side of the couch and he looked up at her.

"I brought you something to eat. Don't think I haven't noticed your lack of appetite this past days. And even though I couldn't care less about your nutrition, I thought you might want something to eat." He said with a cocky smile. She rolled her eyes at him and saw the plate of cereal and the biscuit laying on the little table they had. She knew Draco was worried about her, end even though he wouldn't admit it, he _did_ care about her nutrition.

"Thanks." She smiling at him and grabbing the bowl, bringing it to the couch with her.

Draco, looking at her cat with a defying look said,

"I'm quite offended the way your cat dares to put some space between us." She laughed. _Merlin, I love her laugh._

"Draco I'm sure Crookshanks means nothing of the sort. And given the case he does mean it, it'll probably be for my protection. He is very smart you know."

"He's very much alike his owner." Hermione smiled a little bit and looked down into her bowl and said, "I wouldn't prefer it any other way though. Keeps my conversations with him interesting." He raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed from embarrassment. _What did you just say? Hermione Granger, I'm hoping you did not insinuate just now you don't only talk, but hold entire conversations with your cat!_

She looked up and he saw she was bright as a tomato and he chuckled.

"It's ok Granger. I think everybody has their…moments from time to time." He said now laughing, the cat only looking at him with hatred as if he understood their conversation.

"Oh shush it. Crookshanks is very intelligent, and it wouldn't impress me he would say wiser words than you if he could talk." She said looking away, and as if taking his cue, the cat sat on her lap.

"Oh come on Granger, you know I don't really mean it. But it's not my fault your bloody cat doesn't like me! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the only living thing he doesn't despise." He said scooting closer to her, now that the cat was out of the way.

"It's not true, Crookshanks is a very lovely cat to be around. He lets Ginny pet him. He just needs someone to rely on…" She said leaving her bowl on the little table and stroked the cat's head. _I don't know if I'm talking about Crookshanks anymore… _When she looked up, Draco was next to her, with a stern look on his face, looking right into her eyes. She gasped and the movement made Crookshanks jump out from her lap and ran up the stairs into her room.

"You scared him!" She accused half-jokingly.

"Good. He was only getting in the way."

They looked into each other's eyes and ever so delicately, passed his finger through her left cheek and went down until he was lightly caressing her neck with his thumb. She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch and he smiled_. Even now, with her __heavily __dishevelled hair, and barely noticeable dark circles under her eyes, she still looks beautiful to me. I couldn't think of a day without seeing her… Am I falling in love? Or am I already… _Draco couldn't quite solve the puzzle because the eyes from the witch he had in front of him opened and they locked with his. Without think it twice, he leaned forward and gently kissed her.

It was a dainty, tender kiss at first as if he was worrying her delicate lips would break from it. He deepened the kiss and he could taste the savor of the cereal left on her, but also the candy-like taste that always lingered on her mouth, on her lips. He embraced her and one hand went up to tangle itself on her, messy yet soft hair, meanwhile the other rested on her lower back. She returned the kiss with earnest and locked her arms around his neck. She brushed her nails against the back of his neck, sending shivers all over him and she smiled against his lips.

They sat on the couch snogging for more than a few minutes until Draco felt something scratch his chemise. At first he didn't even bother to look at his but had to break the kiss when he felt something scratch his exposed skin. He hissed and looked the damned cat, looking up at him with innocent eyes. He mouthed _bloody cat_ at him.

"What happened?" Hermione said, startled at his sudden retreat.

"Your fur ball you call cat. That's what happened." He said pointing at his slightly teared shirt and a fine scratch on his abdomen, caused by the cat.

"I believe he was jealous." She smiled.

"And I do believe he has a reason to be it. I admit, before we started…snogging and stuff, I thought he might even like me. He even let me pet him once the other day." She blushed but said nothing about it.

"Here, I'll mend your shirt and I'll look for a healing potion."

"It's fine Granger. The spell is easy, and I think with a little water should be okay with it. It's not that much of an injury."

"If you insist. Then I'll take a shower, I can't believe it's almost three in the afternoon and I'm still wearing pajamas!" he smiled at her.

"You go do that." And he threw a final menacing look at the cat before it strode triumphantly (as if to mock him) towards her chambers.

The evening was pleasant. Both wizards deciding to stay in their head-students dorm for the day until it was dinner. They talked for what was left of the day and Draco noticed how Hermione was avoiding at all costs the events from past days. Every time he would say something remotely close to it, she would avoid his eyes and change the topic. So he decided until Sunday to tell her.

"So…" He said when both of them were in the common room at night, reading a book by the fire.

"So…?" She smiled at him.

"About the other day… the veela thingy." Her smile dropped almost immediately and avoided his gaze.

"What about it?" She quietly asked and he sighed.

"Granger… are we going to pretend like it never happened or are you going to finally tell me? I've been going mental for the past days and I don't believe it's fair for you either." She bit her lip and stood silent for a long moment before responding.

"I'm… still processing everything right now and, I want to tell you, I really do. But this will harm you deeply and I know it. I think I need a couple of days if you don't mind." She smiled.

"It's okay Granger, take your time." He said hugging her.

* * *

Days passed, and as much as she hated it, it had already been almost 2 weeks and she still stayed silent. She and Draco were still treating each other the same, but she knew he was getting more and more concerned about the name she wasn't giving him. And also there was the time. He had given her time and she had abused it. She felt guilty every time she saw his pleading eyes begging her silently for the name, but she was afraid. Afraid of how Draco would react.

They entered potions, and as every single day since she discovered the truth, Snape would be mostly absent from his classes or would quickly leave. It had become somewhat of a routine. Snape being absent with a potion's name and book number on the board along with a deadline and vials attached to it. And if he were in the room he would do exactly the same thing, the only difference being Snape giving the instructions and then leaving. She knew she was causing this, and even though everyone was relieved he wasn't there, Snape couldn't just avoid his classes for much longer. She realised they were going over past potions, so there was no need for Snape to judge or revise them. But looking over the book pages, they were slowly approaching new potions, and she knew sooner or later, Snape just couldn't abandon his class any longer.

Just like in sixth grade, Ginny cornered her about his secret admirer days ago.

"_I know Malfoy may be the only one who knows but, is the word veela inside the context about your secret admirer?" __Damn Draco, He must've slipped and accidentally told her she mentally cursed._

"_Ginny, I want you to know it's not that I don't trust you. I discovered it not too long ago and my mind was confused about it. Sorry for not letting you know sooner, but yes, my secret admirer- is a veela." Ginny's factions softened and smiled._

"_I know how you must feel, having an impossible romance with two wizards. Wicked!" She exclaimed and Hermione only looked pained "But, do you know who it is?" She said and Hermione sighed._

"_That's something still very hard for me to digest so…" She said and Ginny understood._

"_I get it. Don't worry there, whenever you're feeling ready, you know here I am."_

Hermione sighed as she did her potion. _It's not like I'm obliged to instantly like him just because I may be his mate… right?_ But deep down inside of her, she knew she _was _indeed his mate. She had tried to at least confront him, to make him explain, or…_something._ But every time she _felt _him or see him near she would freeze completely and make a panicky escapade as fast as she could. Even though she was being irrational, she just couldn't keep her mind focused at all times now, and she was beginning to feel irritated by it. _I can't just concentrate on my personal life, I __must__ study for the N.E.W.T.s! _

Spending her days at the library and talking with her friends, she found she needed a constant distraction. Something that would keep her mind away from her dreaded future. She somewhat saw her situation as a responsibility and the thought of being with Draco made her only feel guilty about it. _It's not like we're a couple but… morally it feels as if I'm cheating..? _She shook her head at the mere thought of it. _Nonsense! I shouldn't feel guilty about my feelings for Draco! I should be with whomever I desire. It's not my fault I'm someone's mate!_ "I didn't choose any of this!"

"Choose what Miss Granger?" Hermione froze at the words from the person she happened to be avoiding these past weeks. _Apparently, I said that last part out loud. Smart move there, Granger. _She knew she couldn't just run away from her teacher, not at the sight of other students and even less when she hadn't confirmed he was indeed a veela and she was his mate. She slowly turned around and with eyes closed said, "I was only thinking out loud sir."

When she finally looked up, she saw he was keeping a relatively far distance from her, for someone who was having a conversation with, and he was looking away from her. _He must be avoiding my eyes… _

"Silly girl. Keeping your thoughts scattered around for everyone to hear." He sneered and continued "Must be feeling lucky Voldemort didn't get to catch you. Otherwise, you would've doomed us all." He said with a cocky tone. She only felt mad. _Who does he believe himself to be? Not only he didn't thank us at all when we saved his arse, but __he__ was the one buttin' in my conversation with myself! _She thanked for a moment he wasn't looking at her because she was pretty sure she was red as Ginny's hair by now.

"If you must know _sir_, I was trained a little bit in Occlumency. So I highly doubt I would've been the doom for all of us. As you said." Hermione said, saying the last part quietly.

"Did you know, Occlumency doesn't give you a definite assurance your mind will be impervious? Only highly skilled occlumens can have that pleasure." She looked at him with irritated eyes.

"And did you know, it's deeply discourteous to look away at the person you're talking to?" She said it. She didn't think she had the nerve, but the words came out naturally from her mouth, not caring she wasn't using _sir_ anymore. He only raised an eyebrow and hissed "Is this is what this is about?" still, without looking at her. She took the advantage no one was where they were and said louder, "Is this why you won't look at me?" That did it. He looked at her in the eyes and she saw then the whole of his eyes were metallic black, but she sensed they were more of anger than everything else.

She was surprised he didn't scare her anymore. Well, not like he used to. Before, she would be scared to the bone at the mere thought of her teacher but because of how strict and cold he was. Not anymore. She found herself with a new feeling of fear. The type of fear, you would have when not knowing what was going to happen. No, she wasn't afraid of the man in front of her. She was afraid because _she didn't know what to do. _She tried to swallow her fear and just stood straight and kept looking at him right in the eye, noticing he was still a relatively far distance from her.

"Insolent child, don't you have any respect to your professors? I won't let any student of mine treat me so disrespectfully." He seethed and took a step backwards. _As if I could almost sense he's also…__scared__?_ Hermione took her chances and took a two steps forward determinately. He, noticing this, tried to take another step backwards, but failed as she too, took another one forward. And he scowled.

"How dare-" he started but was cut off by her.

"But I'm not just one of your students am I?" She said, although, with a trembling voice, she had a stern face. _I don't know from where did I get the nerve to talk to him like this, but I can't back away now. _She could see an immediate response from him. His factions softened a bit, and even though he still oozed with an eerie feeling, she could see his eyes. His bright obsidian eyes, although still jet black, they didn't have the same look of anger they had before.

He finally said, lowering his eyes, "No. You are not." He looked back at her and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She looked into his eyes and saw sadness she hadn't seen before._ I didn't know our eyes could hold so much emotion_. She felt sorry for him. It too wasn't his fault he was a veela and it certainly wasn't his fault she was his mate. Hermione could barely perceive the sweet aroma that had empowered her before. But it was less this time. Instead of making her a drooling zombie, she only felt… comforted. She let out the littlest smile and looked down. He, of course noticing it, adventured and walked a tiny step towards her. Before he said anything she intercepted, "You are indeed a Veela aren't you?" and looking up to him his only response was "Yes." Ever so quiet so only she could hear him.

"And I presume I'm your mate?"

They waited for long, desperate minutes until his pained voice replied "Yes." She couldn't help her eyes watering and she looked down. She couldn't help the sudden urge to scream. To vomit. To faint. To… _anything. _She found she didn't feel repulsed by him but… she didn't know exactly what was she feeling. At all.

"I need time." Was all she managed to say to him before walking away from the sharp, obscure gaze which followed her.

* * *

Severus didn't quite understood the crazy-haired witch when she had told him _"I need time." _He guessed it couldn't be a very bad thing though. _She actually didn't reject me on the spot, but she didn't either accept my courtship as a veela_. _The reason must be Malfoy_ he thought with disdain. _If it weren't for him, she would've already at least accepted an honest, innocent courtship_. Not as Draco, Snape wasn't patient. It hadn't been two days after she told him she needed her time when Severus already had resumed his presence in his potions class, and ever so discreetly, she stared at her. He _knew,_ this made her forever uncomfortable. Not only did he see her fidgeting with herself, but her potions weren't 100% perfect, and she talked a lot more with the female Weasley.

He'd resolved his little "problem" with the pendant with a brew of his own. After paying a visit to, the now-retired Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, he was able to get the information he needed for the potion. The ingredients weren't very difficult to find, and the potion wasn't as strenuous as others. Yes, it was somewhat challenging, but at least it was done in minutes if done correctly. The only adjustments he had to make were the duration, it's power, and the hair needed. As this potion was made for wizards to take instead of veelas, he had to put one of Hermione's hair instead of one of a veela. And he had to double its effect, as it would only last a few hours. It was as effective as the pendant, and although he couldn't now resist the sweet perfume of hers, he could control his pheromones and veela urges more. He had to take it every 4 hours for it to work properly, _I feel like Bartemius Crouch when he was disguising himself as Moody, such disgusting feeling. _He scowled at the thought but knew he couldn't just refuse to take it. Besides, he would drink it as discreetly as a glass of water. _Nothing suspicious there_. Or so he thought.

His evidently piercing, but discreet, stares at the young witch, and his time-to-time veela potion intakes were seen by a curious pair of pale cerulean eyes. Without wanting to eavesdrop in anything, the blonde petite witch had an interest in the sudden change in the attitude of the potions professor. Luna watched silently, but cautiously, at her professor, with the mere intention of uncovering her own suspicions and assumptions of him. She was, in fact, bored. And when she got bored, her actions would become either unpredictable or completely random. She entertained herself much writing from time to time articles for the Quibbler, and she would spend her afternoons wandering around the castle, talking to ghosts and other magical creatures.

But one of the things she used to do most at school, was talking to Neville. In a way, he was her best friend, he had never even once judged her by her appearance or by how extravagant she was. And she was happy she could just tell him everything. She also knew Neville had a thing for her, which she mildly ignored. It's not that she didn't like him, but she just didn't particularly feel inclined to be romantically involved with the wizard. At least not at this time, that is.

Nevertheless, she wouldn't see him until January or maybe February and she felt quite bored at times. But being with Ginny and Hermione made her entertained enough. An even more so, now that something was up with Hermione and Professor Snape, she was curious. And when she was curious, there was nothing she could do to stop it. _If I ever were a Muggle, I believe I would like being a detective. _She would sometimes muse to herself.

She found quite entertaining, watching the potions master get all worked up at the sight of Hermione. _I'm positive he is a veela and she is his mate. But he must probably be either half or quarter blooded. Otherwise, he wouldn't even doubt or think twice about seriously harming Draco. _But the question that would always linger was, _If he is a veela and she is his mate, then why does he recognize her as such until now? Considering the large age gap, he would already know she was his mate since the moment she turned seventeen… But she __is__ nineteen and it looks like he just discovered it… _But Luna couldn't ignore the fact this was too entertaining. _Curious and curiouser…_ Luna chanted in her mind, remembering the line from the Muggle book, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. She read the book after several Muggle-borns commenting on how she was as mad as the book characters. And when she finally got to read it, it soon became one of her favourites.

She had spent her summer, along with her father at the house of her aunt, Aphrodisia Lovegood, the only unmarried relative she had, and the only living left, that is.

Her father had owl her days ago, telling her their house was safe enough to live in it once more, and promising to never hang an erumpent in their living room again. Luna couldn't wait to return and re-paint her roof. But in the meantime, she was more interested discovering the truth about he professor and the response Hermione will have about it.

Seeing his pointed stare at the witch in potion's class, and him discreetly taking a potion of sorts, she decided to approach him when everybody had left from the classroom.

"Sir?" She said after class, not realising a pair of eyes eavesdropping in their conversation accidentally.

"Yes, Miss Lovegood?" He said dismissively, collecting students' essays to grade them later.

"I don't want to sound rude, nor do I want to meddle myself in others' businesses, but I highly doubt the way for courting a lady is by scowling with intense glares at her." She said and he froze in his place before giving her the iciest, death glare he's ever given to anyone and she just smiled.

"Miss Lovegood, may I ask, _what_ exactly are you going on about? And you're right, it's not your business."

"Oh, it's nothing. But I guess Hermione might appreciated it more if your glances weren't... as fierce." And before he could even spell "detention" she had already skipped out from the classroom and met both brown and greyish-blue, curious eyes. _What did she know?_ Were Severus thoughts as the door from the classroom was closed shut.

"Lovegood," Draco said after he and Blaise unintentionally had mildly eavesdropped on her previous conversation with Snape. He was dragged back by Blaise, who had become very interested in the odd witch, to meet her after class, intending to ask her out to Hogsmeade or at least to get to know her better.

"Blaise, for the love of Merlin she's a _lunatic_! I doubt you'll find much interest in her after she rambles about her nargles and-" But was cut off when he heard Luna say something about Snape courting a lady. Was his godfather interested in…_anyone? _Though Blaise didn't hear (he was busy re-telling him about Luna's brilliancy), he could clearly hear the conversation between them.

Draco's blood went cold when he heard Hermione's name. _WHAT?_ Was the only thing he could think of when he heard it. _What did Granger have to do with any of this?_ As he was slowly dreading the answer he was starting to comprehend, the pale witch got out from the classroom and he called her name.

"What can I do for you Draco?" She said sweetly. _I don't have time for pleasantries_ he though and asked.

"What is it about Granger and Snape?" But before she could answer he got a nudge in the ribs by Blaise as he said. "Luna. Such a nice time isn't it? Don't bother with this blonde chit over there. Fancy a walk with me?" Blaise said winking at a very amused Luna and giving a devious smile at Draco. _Chit? He called me a chit? Bloody Zabini, I guess I can't talk to Loony right now._

"But I though Draco wanted to-"

"It's fine Lovegood. Go on and _fancy a walk with Blaise_. I'll talk to you later." He said sighing and she nodded, taking the arm of the now grinning, Blaise.

"Se ya mate." He said before walking off with Luna.

After he had lost them, he started pacing towards the head students dorms, he hoped Granger was there. _What I'm thinking simply __cannot__ be! _

He was close enough when he saw Granger and the Weaselette chatting in the hallway. "Granger!" he called and met the witches in the hallway.

"Draco," She was bewildered from his sudden outburst. "Wha-"

"We need to talk." He said quickly. "I'm sorry Draco, but I'm rather busy at the moment. We were on our way to help-" "No," She was cut off again by him.

"I mean, we need to _talk_." He said and as if she understood perfectly what he said, she slowly paled and nodded mechanically at him.

"Ginny… I…" She turned to the redhead and she just nodded.

"I understand Hermione. You go on and talk, I'll catch up with you later." She said with a smile and strode off.

* * *

When Draco and Hermione were sure there were no prying eyes nor ears nearby he finally said after minutes of silence,

"Hermione I _know_." She just looked like she was about to cry.

"You… k-know?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand. What it is you exactly know?" She didn't know why she was playing dumb, she perfectly knew what he was talking about, but she feared the answer.

"Granger, don't be coy with me. You perfectly know what I'm talking about." He said getting closer to her.

"I…" Hermione hated feeling like this. Feeling so _weak_. Her eyes watered, and she looked down. _Talking about courage huh? My lack of courage right now might as well embarrass deeply Godric Gryffindor. _She gulped and looked at him in the eyes.

"You told me to give you time; I did. And I very well understand now the why of you don't telling me who this veela is." Draco said.

"Draco I…" She didn't finish, and Draco continued

"Hermione you do _know_ who this veela is don't you?" He said, and she nodded.

"Please, tell me who it is then."

"No." She said shaking her head, not looking at him in the eyes.

"You can't avoid this matter any longer and you can't avoid my eyes as well!"

Silence.

"Please tell me who the veela is." He said taking her shoulder with one hand and the other moved her chin so he could look at her eyes.

"Please."

"No.." She said weakly.

"Hermione…" And she finally looked at him in the eyes.

"Is Severus Snape the veela whom you are its mate?" He said as fat, salty, and translucid tears were falling from her eyes.

"Yes, he is."

* * *

**A/N: Please tell me what you've thought of the story so far by reviewing it! It'll take you less than 30 seconds and it'll make me and the story veeery happy! ;3**

**Hope to upload next week as usual and keep reading!**

**;3**


	9. It's a word, not a binding spell

**A/N: HIYAAAA! Sorry I didn't upload last Wednesday, I applied for a university I liked** **so.. I was studying. But I promise I'll try to upload next chapter this week! Thank you very much for your support and reviews and things very quickly I want to say:**

**1\. For any future reference, I know Ginny has brown eyes but ever since I saw Bonnie Wright's blue ones, I can't picture Ginny with anything but blue eyes. Yes, I somewhat picture the characters as in the movies. Of course, the exception is Harry, I think Lily has been an awfully lot offended not only by Dan, but by the actress who portrayed her as a child in the movies.**

**2\. You'll realise I quoted from the book the Goblet of fire, and of course it's only that bit, everything else is my imagination. Reserved rights to J.K. Rowling for that part btw.**

**3\. I'm sorry if this chapter is just too long, and it was going to be longer, but I can't do that to you. I'll try to make shorter chapters in the future. I was actually going to split this one, but the continuity... (see it as a gift from me to you, for not uploading on time)**

**4\. Between today and tomorrow, I'll correct any mistakes (as always)**

**5\. If you have ANY opinion of WHATEVER I'll be very happy to hear you out.**

**That's it! Read Enjoy and Review :***

* * *

"Can't wait to beat Hufflepuff in the first game of the season. We are so winning the Cup this year!" Ginny said beaming at Harry, who was sitting beside her at Gryffindor's common room.

As Harry lost an entire year of Hogwarts and was merely there to do N.E.W.T.s, it wasn't a surprise he wasn't Gryffindor's Quidditch team captain anymore. Or in the team whatsoever. Although he missed the rush of air and adrenaline he would get every game, he felt content with the fact Ginny was now the team captain.

As November was drawing nearer, Quidditch training had begun as well as the new season of the year. Even though he wasn't on the team anymore, Harry helped Ginny with tryouts at the beginning of the year. He could see some of the younger players he had a chance to play within his Quidditch years, and helped Ginny with specific tactics and talents he thought of past players.

And he, alongside some other "eight" graders, would fancy a Quidditch match, when the pitch was alone, every now and then. _How many occasions will I have the time to play when my Auror training starts? _Harry sometimes wondered with worry, fearing he won't ever play again.

"But, of course, it won't be an easy road, now that our best Seeker is gone." Said Ginny taking Harry out of his thoughts kissing him on the nose.

"But you're an excellent Seeker!" Harry said softly kissing her on the lips.

"Not as good as you ever were! Besides, I believe Natalie McDonald is a better Seeker than I am. We'll most probably change places. I'm a better chaser than the seeker." She sighed.

"The fifth year?" Asked Harry and she nodded, continuing

"I doubt we'll have another seeker this year. Ritchie Coote will probably be team captain next year, and he'll have to worry about a new seeker then." She said falling backwards into Harry's lap.

After silent, comforting minutes passed, Harry could hear Ginny's soft chuckles coming from his lap.

"What is it?" He quietly asked her, stroking her hair.

"It's just… I was remembering when I was younger, how I would day dream all day about you, imagining all type of situations in which you would pay attention to me. Mostly in my first and second year." She smiled with a pink colour in her face. "I don't know if I ever told you Harry, but, the diary… I used to tell it how much I wished I could be with you. And how little the prospects of it going to happen were…"

"I-I knew." Harry blurted out and Ginny looked at him with a blank red face.

"Not that I ever read anything you wrote. There wasn't a way for me to actually see what you had written in it, as the words were gone forever." He quickly added and he could see the relief on her face.

"But, T-Tom, he- told me," Harry said avoiding Voldemort's name. He never used the name "Voldemort" and the words –diary, feelings, and second year in the same sentence when talking to Ginny. He knew she tried to avoid the reality that she had been, in fact, confiding her deepest feelings with the darkest wizard of all times, for almost a year, in that diary. The thought still disturbed her and made her squirm to the day.

"It doesn't matter anymore. My dream came true." She said sitting up and kissed him with all her might on the lips. _Or maybe my dream came true_ thought Harry, remembering in his sixth year when his thoughts would wander from time to time towards Ginny. He was yearning to taste her lips without triggering Ron's fury over him back then. Wondering how he could get the redhead's attention, and hope she would break up with her then-boyfriend, Dean.

"Ahem." They both separated at the sound, and could see Ron, with a somewhat purplish face, clearing his throat and visibly trying not to snap.

"Did you lose something Ron?" Ginny said, annoyed they were interrupted. He hesitated a bit before answering, "No, I am in my right to walk wherever I want. It's a free country." He said putting his hands behind his back and whistled as he paced around the room, avoiding them with his eyes. He was looking up at the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"What do you want Ron?" said with gritted teeth, Ginny, who was now angry.

"Oy! Don't you go talking to me like that! You _stole_ my best friend!" Said Ron pointing a finger at her, now looking their way.

"I did not do such thing! Tell 'im Harry." She said to the black haired wizard, who was trying very hard to hide and hope they didn't notice him.

"I-I-" Before Harry had a chance to speak, Ron berated "Yeah you did! Every time I want to talk to him I see you snogging his brains out! Not a nice view, mind you." He contorted his face and looked to the fuming redhead and the wizard who was blushing furiously.

"It's not our fault that since Hermione left you, you and your arse have an obscene amount of free time." Sore spot. Ginny had pushed the button in Ron that said "CAREFUL: MAY EXPLODE". She saw the different shades varying from red to purple in Ron's face and she knew she had hit a sore spot. She didn't regret it.

"Harry and I have been acting the same as always. But ever since you're single, your favourite sport, besides Quidditch, is nag Harry and me whenever we're alone."

"Harry was my friend before he met _you_!"

"Ron, you of all people should understand that sometimes couples want to be _alone_." She said with a softer tone and sighed, "Ron look- I know these past weeks have been hard for you, but you must speak with her. You're friends. You need each other. And it's not fair that you keep ignoring her. I know she's tried to speak to you, but you just pretend she's not even there! It's been over a month and you haven't even looked at her way." Her words stabbed him like icy daggers.

"I don't believe you even bothered saying happy birthday to her did you?" He shook his head with a hard face and lowered his eyes. _Of course, telling Ron Hermione's feelings may have been with Malfoy ever since sixth grade won't help at all… Nor the fact there is another wizard after her, and it doesn't look he's going to give up anytime soon…_

She shook her head and continued,

"Anyways, even though you may not get back together ever again, you shouldn't be too hard on her. Just grow some pants and accept you weren't made for each other!" She said and Ron knew the words already. The same words had slipped through Harry's lips. He narrowed his eyes at her, opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say more, but thought better of it, closed it, and he stepped out of the common room.

She turned and stared at Harry, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "And you," She narrowed her eyes at him and she reminded Harry of how Mrs. Weasley looked seconds before she almost hexed the twins for stealing the Ford Anglia. He gulped. " Some backup you gave me there, huh?" She scolded him.

"I-"

"I can't believe the amount of courage there is in you, for being the boy-who-lived."

* * *

If there were any non-veela being who would know every single piece of details about them, it would be Hermione. She had spent the last days engrossed in the library, researching everything the books would let her know about veelas. She kept returning from the library almost until midnight, ate very little, and fast. She made sure she could have the enough time for doing homework as well as researching about veelas. Although Harry still didn't know about the veela or Snape, he had commented about her fast eating habits over the past days.

"Are you back doing your S.P.E.W thing?" He had asked her when she was on the brink of leaving the table, one day at breakfast.

"No… Why?"

"Well, you're acting kinda like when you were doing your house-elf project. You're skipping meals, eat very fast, and I could bet my life you're spending the double of the time in the library than any other normal day." He asked out of curiosity more than suspicion.

"I-I'm not back to that project." She said with disappointment, remembering her almost fiasco she had with the elf society she made. But remained her posture and said "But I'm studying for our N.E.W.T.s. If I want a position in the Ministry, I simply cannot expect less than "Outstanding" in them. I assure you, even though Kingsley has your position as an Auror guaranteed, you should start studying too. And if you ever want to work outside of the UK in the future, good marks in your N.E.W.T.s will surely do well in you curriculum." Hermione knew she wasn't a very good liar, but it was half a lie. While she had indeed started studying for the N.E.W.T.s, she wasn't frequenting the library these days for that purpose. But she wasn't ready yet to break the news to Harry.

He looked at her as if another head had suddenly grown in her neck. And she looked at the watch her father gave to her as a present when she was the only student in her entire generation to get 10 O.W.L.s. _"If there's anyone who has the enough time to spend with her friends and getting high marks on their exams at the same time, it is you." _He'd told her as she opened her watch. It was transparent, with dark blue straps, as well as dark blue roman numbers. God, she missed her parents.

"Hermione -you do realise our exams are more than 6 months away? Live a little! There's no Voldemort here to threaten us anymore. You should relax a bit more."

"Harry I know, I'm relaxing! Really! But- I was just finishing a Transfiguration book and Mdme. Pince doesn't allow it to be taken out of the library. And you know how much I hate leaving a half-finished book." She hoped Harry would fall for her lie, and after a suspicious look he gave her, he finally let her go. _I'm sorry Harry, I know you're my best friend, but I need a little more research before I break anything to you._ She wanted to tell Harry before Ginny, but situations made it the other way around at the end. Although, Ginny still didn't know who the veela was.

Going through the books in the library, she sat in the furthest and most solitary place of the Legal Section of the library. As it was the most unpopular area of the lot, she didn't want to be surprised by anyone and having to answers questions like _"Why are you reading "Coping with your Veela", "Unusual ways Veelas sometimes think", "Veela powers and everything you must know about them"?" _Or things like _"Are you secretly a veela?". _No, Hermione didn't feel like raising any question about her reading habits.

She also felt sorry she wasn't spending as much time with Draco these past days as she used to. She wasn't only just busy with her new schedule (which consisted of: waking up, library, eat, classes, library, classes, library, eat, library, library, sleep. And repeat). She was also feeling slightly guilty about how would Snape react to all of this. Ever since she told Draco, she noticed how he would sit furthest away from Snape in the classes (and made sure she did as well). And although he understood if they made any contact at all while on his watch was a bad move, he would send death glances at him when he wasn't looking. He also kept asking her about Snape. _"Did he speak to you?" "He didn't cause you any trouble did he?" "How are you handling things?"_

She knew he was trying to help, but he couldn't accept with a warm hug the fact his godfather wasn't only a veela, but his mate was none other than the girl he fancies. It bothered him the most when she had politely asked him they still be "just friends" for a little longer, not because didn't want to be with him or she didn't want the title (they acted pretty much like a couple). But she would feel terrible not only for Snape, but for Ron too. Their break up had been barely over a month, and he would only accuse her of hypocrisy if she started dating Draco right away (despite the fact she already felt like one). She sighed. _All of this is so messed up right now. I don't even know how to act! _She froze. She, Hermione Granger didn't have a plan. None at all. _What if I give..? No, Hermione THINK! _The thought had been taunting her ever since she found out who the veela was.

She had considered the possibilities of ever saying yes to give it a go with Snape, and when the thought had merely touched her mind, she discarded it with furious speed and blushing cheeks. She didn't only felt already too attached to Draco, but it was…Snape. _He doesn't even like me as a person! His human side must feel just as repulsed by me right now as when even before he knew I was his mate. It's just magic and chemicals! Nothing more._ She thought about it somehow like Amortentia. But in a more cruel and ungodly way.

Hermione left the library a little after dinner, already exhausted from being sitting reading all day about veelas. Her head was about to explode and all she wanted to do was get some rest. Several days lacking sleep were getting to her, and she accidentally stumbled into someone on her way out almost knocking her over. "S-Sorry!" She said and made a mental note about stopping bumping with other people.

She looked up and saw a mass of red hair and blue, surprised eyes, looking at her. Ron.

"R-Ron. How are you doing?" She politely said. As this was the first word, they had exchanged since their breakup. He looked at her, and then sideways, deciding whether keep walking as if nothing had happened and ignore her or stay and finally acknowledge her. He finally decided on the latter.

"Hermione." He said with a quiet, rigid voice, avoiding her gaze at all costs. Ignoring her question. _Well, at least it's an improvement_. Hermione thought.

"How've things been going? Have you had any matches of Quidditch with Harry and the boys?"

"I s'pose so."

"Have you received any letters from your family? And what about the joke shop?" She said trying very hard to keep the conversation going.

"Not much. And the joke shop's been the same as you last saw it." He said sourly. She sighed.

"Ron… look. I know this is hard for both of us, but we can't keep ignoring each other. You're one of my best friends. I need you. Can't we forget this all happened and return to how we were before?"

"Oh yeah? If you're so lonely as you say you are, you're not showing it. I've seen you how cozy you look around Malfoy. And don't lie to me. Even though Harry swears he hasn't seen a thing, I know he has. And so do I. So don't go saying things with false remorse, when I know your relationship with the bouncing ferret is anything but platonic." Hermione felt her ears and cheeks go pink. _Even though he has a point, I can't lose my relationship with Ron._

"He's my friend, Ron. And so are you! Please don't go rubbing in my face how my relationship with Draco is when he has been my friend from a long time ago! He was there for me, in sixth year, when your relationship with Lavender left me emotionally to pieces. Yes, I trust and rely on him a lot, but don't go saying I had false remorse when there was nothing false in my relationship with you! I broke up with you before it could turn that way. You know I love you. As a brother. And I would appreciate it very much if you would accept it as it is."

"Hermione… I'm sorry that you don't love me. I still have some problems figuring out my own, but you hurt me. And I'm not sure I'm ready to forgive, even less to accept the fact we may never be together again." Hermione tried to look at Ron at the face but saw a flash of dark eyes luring over them. She could see Snape, from a safe distance, was watching her with a glare that might break a glass from the intensity of it. She guessed he was trying to hear their conversation. And knew, she had to stop ignoring him as well.

"Thank you, Ron. I understand. And I think that with a little time, things will go back to normal." She smiled. But could not shake those black eyes still watching her.

"Y-yeah. I'm just not quite ready yet. But I don't like your relationship with Malfoy still. Makes me think about how you acted around him when we were still dating-"

"-Ron," Hermione cut him off. "I know, there's so much we have to catch up with and believe me when I tell you I had eyes for no one else than you. But I must go." She said not bearing anymore the black eyes and she practically jogged from were a blank-faced Ron stood, and made her way towards a far hallway.

"Hermione! We were talking! Come back!" Ron's yellings muffled by the time she reached the deserted hallway.

As if Severus knew, he followed her into the hallway where she knew they wouldn't be heard.

"I don't know if you think eavesdropping in a conversation is okay, or if it is a habit of yours, knowing you were a spy, but I can't stand-" "Shhh!" He silenced her. "Into the classroom. Your tendency to raise your voice is very noticeable by others." He directed her into the nearest empty classroom and she complied, entering the room.

After putting upwards and silencing spells they finally talked.

"So, Miss Granger has finally spoken from her long, silent coma." He said bitterly, stepping away from her.

"I was _not_ in a silent comma! I was just thinking things over." She said without caring she didn't use _sir_. She wasn't expecting to have and speak with him so soon. She still wasn't finished reasoning what will happen with them!

"Oh? And what are your conclusions regarding… _our situation_." He said with a sneer and she felt a shiver go down her spine as the last words left his lips. A dead silence fell upon them until she spoke before he grew more impatient and attacked her again,

"I'm still thinking things over." She repeated, and before he could reply she added, "But, I believe I will have an appropriate answer by Halloween. It's merely a week away, and I believe it would give me the enough time to sort out… _our situation_." She said, lingering on the last words with difficulty. He seemed to be deep in thought and stared at her for a full minute, without saying anything. After a pregnant pause, he said in his quiet, velvety, nasal voice, "Very well. I shall see we meet before the Halloween feast without fail." He said in a low pitch and she took this as her cue to leave. Half way through the door she heard him,

"And Granger, when talking about the relationship you have with Malfoy, you can't fool anybody with the fact it is anything but platonic. Not even Weasley believed your lie." He said and her blood turned ice. She decided not to give him the pleasure of looking back and knowing his eyes were probably onyx by now, she continued her way out of the classroom.

* * *

"Granger, the amount of books you've brought in the common room have already given me a headache. And I consider myself a literate person!" Draco said after walking into the room. He could see Hermione curled up in the couch, absorbed by a book, next to Crookshanks, and a pile of books that went from the floor up to her shoulder. She jumped at the surprise of his arrival and gave him a small smile before turning her head back to the book. He sighed and went up to her.

"I'm just doing a little bit of research, that's all." She said when he proceeded and sat on the loveseat next to the couch.

"And I just want to spend time with the girl I like. What are you reading now anyways?" He said grabbing the book from her hand before she could protest (he knew it annoyed her) and read _"Poisons and antidotes you should know before dealing with Beasts"_. He felt gloomy every time he was reminded the nature of his godfather and the fact it involved Hermione. _Why couldn't it be I don't know… someone from his generation!? _He knew she was very stressed by all of it too, but he felt slightly rejected when she asked him to stay friends longer.

"Granger, stop mortifying yourself and _stop _reading this! This is all rubbish!"

"No, it's not! And I'm not mortifying myself, the more I read, the more relaxed I become."

"You won't be relaxed anymore when you _know_ the information you're trying to reach. You're distracting yourself, and I don't like seeing you being this… _exhausted_." He said taking her hand in his and looked at her. She was wearing Muggle clothes, and even though her hair didn't look as bushy and dishevelled as other times, he could see she had done a bun, probably in the morning, but half of her hair was now falling to her sides. She reminded him about how she was dressed in the Yule Ball in their fourth year.

"Your hair reminds me of your hairstyle in the Yule Ball." He whispered and she blushed.

"You –you remember _that_? It's been almost four years! I didn't know you would remember the knot I was wearing that night."

"Of course I do. I even remember the periwinkle-blue dress you wore, and how you were easily the prettiest girl in the whole room. I think you are still, as you are dressed now." She was now blushing not only from her face, but also her ears and he continued, "Besides, how could I forget the night we began our…friendship? That time we may have only formed a truce, but it was the beginning of well…this." He said as he raised their hands showing their intertwined fingers.

"Even though, I must say, I didn't know how to feel for quite some time, for I thought you had only taken pity on me just because I was wearing costume and filigree." She said narrowing her eyes but didn't stop smiling.

"How could you say that?" He said feigning an offended tone. "_Hermione," _he said using her first name, "you don't know how much I regret all those things I said to you. I even remember perfectly in my head the time I called you a long molared_ mudblood_." He said the word with difficulty and Hermione knew then how much he had changed ever since.

"It's okay Draco. You know I've forgiven you for all of that." She smiled at him and he looked up to her eyes.

_**December 1994**_

It was beginnings of December and Draco couldn't be more bored. His jokes about 'POTTER STINKS' were dying out, and he was to stay during Christmas for the Yule Ball. It's not like he wasn't excited about the ball, well, more or less. But the fact that he had to stay all holidays for just one day wasn't on his desires list.

But for him, it seemed everybody was with the frenzy of finding a partner for the ball. He, of course, wasn't worried in the least. He had already been asked to the ball by at least a dozen of girls, but he knew he was going with Pansy. She had told him three days before she already had a date, some pureblood Ravenclaw from fifth year, but he also knew, she would dump him the second he asked her. But he didn't want to seem desperate or anything, so he decided to wait two weeks before the ball to ask her.

In the meantime, his only hopes before school ended were to reject still further invitations skinny girls from third and second year to the ball and make fun of Potter. He almost said yes to a sixth-year girl from Ravenclaw, she was pretty enough and was half-blood. But he wasn't going with any girl that decided to invite him. It had to be he the one to invite a girl. As proper pure-blood traditions stated, the wizard was always the one to woo a witch.

He was walking down the hall, with his newfound friend, Blaise, who hadn't had a chance to speak until recently. He didn't know why until now, but Draco found a friend who had the brains like him to talk finally _talk_. A thousand times better than the scum Crabbe and Goyle always made of themselves. Not that he would stop talking to them, of course.

"So I was telling you, a girl, a _Hufflepuff _from third year was brave enough to ask _me_ to the ball." Blaise only sniggered, and he continued, "But not only that, she was a _mudblood_. Of course, I told her I couldn't even think of being seen talking to her, so she ran away crying." He finished as he and Blaise laughed. They were passing behind Potter when he overheard Weasley say,

"Hermione – who you are going to the ball with?" he almost stopped his tracks. Hermione Granger, a Mudblood, with a partner for the Ball? He almost bursted out laughing but remained his posture, as he wanted to keep listening who was the poor soul that had to go with Granger.

"I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me." So she _did _have a dance partner. Unbelievable!

"You're joking Weasley!" He said behind them "You're not telling me someone's asked _that_ to the ball? Not the long molared Mudblood?" He said now laughing with Blaise at his side. But stopped his tracks when she said "Hello, Professor Moody!" He went pale and could only help but look behind and find… no one. His face was flushed with anger and he turned when she told him "Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" She said flashing her, now normal sized, teeth to him as she left with Weasley and Potter, laughing.

"C'mon Draco, we'll wait for the ball to see who is this partner she says she has. I bet the trio had to ask third grades because no one wants to go with them." He said nudging him to move. _Had Granger the same size of teeth before I hexed her? And she didn't even seem to hesitate to come back at me, even though I called her a Mudblood._ Draco couldn't help but think the newfound confidence she had, was a consequence of the slap she gave him last year. And he did not like that at all.

The day of the Yule Ball arrived, as well as Christmas, and everybody was waiting outside the Great Hall, for the clock to announce it was finally 8 o'clock. He had Pansy by his side, who ditched his former partner the second Draco asked her, with pale pink robes that made her hair look ever darker, her eyes greener, and her skin paler. He looked at her, and she blushed for a second, before putting her attention to other girls. _What I like about Pansy, is how easily I can reach to her. Maybe I don't see her as someone I would like to spend my life with (she talks too much about clothes for my liking), but she is a great friend, pretty, pureblooded, and loyal. And is also someone with whom I can keep myself entertained for a while. _He, on the other side, was wearing from head to toe black, elegant, velvet robes, which were a gift from his father.

At the time when the school with every guest had to welcome the champions for their big entrance, Draco had already forgotten all about Granger and her unfortunate dance partner. That is until he saw her.

He was glad Pansy was also gaping at her, for he couldn't take his eyes off the witch grasping Viktor Krum's arm. Her hair was not the bush and knots it always was, but it was shiny, and her curls were all in place in an elegant knot. Her dress, made with floaty periwinkle-blue material, was floating elegantly every way she walked. Draco thought it was very well made, for it was just her size. But the thing Draco couldn't believe, wasn't the fact Granger had somehow managed to bewitch Krum into asking her (but it, of course, astonished not only him, but everyone else), but the fact she looked – pretty. No, scratch that, she looked _beautiful_. Hermione Granger looked as if she was the only decent-looking girl in a room full of trolls. She even looked prettier than Fleur (it was debatable). As she passed in front of them, all words of hate, disapproval and insults never left his mouth. Because there were none to say. For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy was left speechless.

As the ball went on, there was dinner, and then almost everyone stood and began to dance. Pansy, of course, was thrilled with all the jealous looks some girls were giving her because she was with Draco Malfoy, but the looks they gave her were minimal compared to those given to Fleur and Hermione. Draco found himself being part of the crowd giving looks at them. Not to Fleur, but to Hermione.

As they danced, he would sometimes catch a glance at the brunette with the blue dress, and he could even swear her laughter could be heard miles away. He hated the feeling it caused him, not being able to tear his eyes from her and the queasy feeling he had in his stomach. _I'm getting paranoid_ Every time he would steal a glance her way; he made it so that Pansy wouldn't notice, and of course, neither did Hermione.

At midnight, although many were still dancing, many others had already left to their dorms to get some sleep. Like a good dance partner, he escorted Pansy to the Slytherin common room but he didn't enter it.

"You go on; I still have something to sort out with Blaise." He lied to Pansy and she didn't reply as she entered the common room, giving him a goodnight chaste kiss on the lips. In fact, he didn't know why exactly he was returning to the Great Hall. Almost everyone he knew had already left, and he wasn't up to dance anymore. His thoughts wandered to the minor possibility the brunette bookworm was still there without Krum,but stopped abruptly to the soft sounds of someone crying. He didn't even had the time to slap himself mentally for his thoughts when his feet started dragging him towards the soft sobs.

He stopped abruptly when he recognized the witch with the periwinkle blue dress sitting on a stone bench, stuck to the wall, crying. He had stared at the witch for full two minutes before he cleared his throat, and she stopped and looked up at him. Her face was slightly pink from all the crying, and she had bloodshot eyes. But the moment she realised _who_ was looking at her, she wiped her tears, sniffed and frowned at him.

"Didn't get any luck with Krum tonight?" He said before he could stop himself. _Great going there, Draco_ he mentally cursed himself. Her lip quivered, but she gave him an angry look.

"What do _you_ know Malfoy?" She said and then as if realising something she continued, "Why are you here anyway? Come to taunt a crying Mudblood? Well, I'm not giving you that pleasure!" She said standing up and tried to pass him, but he grabbed her wrist before she could get away.

"Why are you crying?" He said with a softness he didn't know he had.

"It's none of your business! And let go of me! Or do you want another slap?" She said trying to break free from his steel grip. Draco seemed to have left out his body for somebody else to manage because the next thing he did was walk further into the hallway away from the noise dragging her along with him.

"I'm not here to attack you or anything of the sort. I just happened to see you and well, one of my least favorite things in the world is to see a girl crying. Also, well yeah, I was curious because, you seemed very happy at the ball, and that was less than an hour ago when I last saw you! And now –" He looked at her, and her stopped trying to break free and saw him. " –now you look, well as if someone had told you your parents died."

He looked at her, and she sighed and sat herself again, on the stone bench. He followed and sat at her side. She didn't complain but sat a few moments in silence, mentally trying to decide if she should tell him about her tears.

"It wasn't Viktor the reason I was crying tonight." She finally said, and he looked up to her. "I… had an argument with Ron just before you came in and found me. Not only was I accused of treason, but I was yelled at, and humiliated." She told him and saw his confused face, she explained. "Ron ruined my night with his temper. I know it's no big deal but, I appreciate his friendship a lot, and I wouldn't even think to do the same if he went with a Beauxbatons girl to the ball. I believe it's not mutual."

"Hermione…" He said, using for the first time in his life, her first name, "Weasley is a git. And I believe he was only jealous of Krum, because, believe it or not, you were easily the prettiest girl in the room." He said before he could even process the words slipping through his lips, and saw her face was the same color as Pansy's dress. They stared at each other, neither knowing what to say next.

She broke the silence first, seeing his face was blank.

"I-I… thank you, Draco." She said carefully, also using his first name for the first time, still blushing furiously. He recovered at the sound of his name.

"Granger I know we have had our _misunderstandings _in the past, and I also know we may not like each other. At all. And it also doesn't take away the fact my views towards _Muggle-borns_ are totally changed… but I think I can make an exception with you." He said warily, swallowing all of his pure-blood pride he had. She seemed to have understood what he meant for she said. "Yeah, I know I'm still a stubborn know-it-all, and you're still a blond prat. But I think we can at least be civil towards each other." She smiled a bit.

They were silent for a few moments, each looking into the others eyes. Brown and Blue. Looking past all the prejudices society had planted each other since they were born. But for the first time, looking at each other for whom they really were. Each with hundreds of questions in their heads, but with one predominantly in both's heads.

_What in Merlin's beard just happened?_

_**October 1998**_

It was Halloween, and Hermione was nervous all day long, nervous about her conversation later with Snape. It was Saturday, and the day before, in their Potions class, without even Ginny noticing it, he'd slipped a note to her hand that said:

**Meet me in my Potions office at 6 o'clock. Make sure you're ****alone.**

She'd burned the note immediately, and as 6 o'clock got nearer, she began to freak out about the meeting she had. She had told no one of her meeting, not even Draco. Although they did spend their day together ( they went off to Hogsmeade in the morning) and in the afternoon, to her great luck, Blaise had come and told them he wanted to speak to him. After Draco had told him to sod off, Hermione told them she had some studying to do before the feast, so she didn't have any problem. And now she was there, pacing in an empty hallway close to the dungeons, waiting for the moment she had to go in there and confront Snape.

Looking at her watch, the seconds clicking, she decided it was time to go before she was late in Snape's office.

She knocked at the door and he soon emerged from the door, looking down to her, and without a word he let her step inside of his office.

His office was dark, cold, and full of potions as she last remembered it. Nothing had changed much, besides for the fact, some of his personal stuff had been removed. As he was now, half- the headmaster, he had two offices now, and by that, two bedrooms. So he moved some of his stuff to the other one.

"I thought the intention for this meeting was to discuss a matter of importance, not for you to stare at my office." He said from behind her, and she jumped, blushing in the way.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just-" "Care for some tea, Miss Granger?" He cut her off, not minding her answer and led her to an adjacent room, with a small table with a set of fine-looking china. "Y-yes, t-thank you." She stuttered.

After sitting down in his dark wooded, velvety chair and drinking some black tea, she decided it was time to speak up.

"I think I have an answer for how to manage this… situation we have." "About time." She heard him whisper under his breath but let her continue,

"Well, I've reached the conclusion, me letting you die is not something very human at all." "How considerate of you Miss Granger," He spat and sneered at her, "but let me say, I won't stand the pity of anyone. So I suggest, if that is your decision, you may very well get out from here."

"I-I never said I pity you! Yes, it is rather sad your misfortune, but I never said any of my acts, or future ones are, or will be out of pity. My point here, is, that I would like willingly, to get to know you." She said, and he looked at her, trying to decipher a puzzle. "Please do be more specific." She took a deep breath and exhaled before saying,

"What I mean, is, I don't want to care about the veela thing, I want to know who is Severus Snape. Because, let's face it, yes you were my teacher for six years, and you fought on our side. _But_, that doesn't mean I know you. At all. I don't know your pet peeves, what you like, what makes you happy, _nothing_. Not even your past, for that matter. And I want to know you. Before I can make a proper decision, a life decision for that matter, I can't make it blindly. I don't know what type of person you are. I don't care if there's anything chemical or magical that attaches us both, but I want to know _who_ you are, on the inside. I don't know if that's specific enough for you." She said, realising she had scooted closer to him, and her voice had slightly raised from when she first got to his office.

They sat there, in silence and Hermione saw how different his eyes were from Draco's. His, instead of being a crystal blue, were quite the opposite, being onyx black. His were eyes that wanted to express so much emotion but held back as if they were afraid to lose something. She snapped out of her trance as he spoke.

"What I understand here is, you're saying yes to meet, to get to know each other. But you're not saying anything yet about… the future, correct?" She nodded.

"I suggest, you should go back before the feast starts. You don't want any of your _friends_ missing you." He said specifically adding vile to the word friends. Hermione swallowed hard, trying not to think about her future. In any form.

* * *

November came with a chilly breeze enough to give you a horrible cold, but not enough to freeze the entire castle. Though it wasn't yet snowing, students knew it might at any moment now.

Try as she might, Hermione just couldn't speak at all or think about the meeting she had with Snape on Halloween. She knew she had gotten herself in trouble, as Draco was also involved in all of this. It was on November the fifth when she finally decided to tell him about her meeting with Snape.

"You did WHAT?" He had tried to stay calm, but this news weren't pleasant in the least.

"Hermione, I know you wanted to stay friends a little longer, in the hope we'll be something more in the this means we'll stay friends forever. Period." He whispered to her one day after classes.

"Draco, don't say it like that. That's not true."

"You practically said yes to him!"

"No, I said yes into agreeing to know him better, nothing more."

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it's not! And it's just a word, not a binding spell. You're making a big fuzz over nothing." She tried to calm him down.

"It's just that Granger-" he decided to stop mid-track on his words and kissed her full on the lips, feeling the softness of hers with his. She returned the kiss with the same emotion and fleeting moments passed before they finally broke away.

"There, you just matter too much for me Hermione. I just can't lose you. When we were in sixth grade and all of this began, I never would have thought me feelings for you would be this deep."

"Draco…" She said, and he took her cheek in his hand.

"Please just, don't go and leave me okay? I think my emotions are deep enough for me to sacrifice my life for you." He said before kissing her again and the left, to his class.

_I hope the same thing as you do,_ _Draco_ she thought worriedly

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Pleeeease review for this storyyyy! I'll always cherish you! And please continue reading :***


	10. First meeting

**A/N: Wohoooooooojsddsk heyaa guys! I think this is the fastest upload I have ever had! I've done nothing but write these days. My inspiration goes hand in hand with the song "Veridis Quo" from Daft Punk :'). So if you have heard it, imagine more than 20 hours of it (yeah, that's how I write). Well, even though this chapter is indeed long, it is way shorter than the previous two. Please tell me if you like the length or like longer chapters of even shorter ones. Thank you for the reviews and the support and as always, corrections I'll do them in the next days. And if you want to say anything, please do! :)**

**Q&amp;A: ashfire1324: Thank you for the review! And none was taken! Yes, I perfectly know Snape is from the generation of James and Lily, and I also know he is almost 39 and Hermione just turned 19. Buuut! Yes, she is quite young, but it is possible for Veelas to have mates generations younger, or older. As this is the younger case, the Veela won't know who their mate is until the mate turns seventeen (it's the other way around with the older case). So, even though if he hadn't worn his pendant like EVER he still wouldn't know Hermione was his mate until she turned 17. Hope that answered your doubt! ;)**

**Jordi. Storey : ****Thanks for the review! And ****I think he probably will. I'm still not quite sure when, but it'll definitely happen after Harry and Ginny know. ;)**

**P.S.: Please continue reading, review and enjoy! :***

* * *

Hermione sure loved Transfiguration. It was her second favourite class after Arithmancy. Of course, Charms was also there, and she liked the subject of Charms _more _than Transfiguration, but she enjoyed McGonagall's class better. But nevertheless, Transfiguration wasn't a piece of cake. Yes, she was the best of her class, but McGonagall made sure no one forgets that even though the war was over, school wasn't. In her personality towards the classroom, Professor McGonagall seemed a tad more relaxed and less strict, but nevertheless, the homework she gave was worse than in past years.

"Just as Voldemort was defeated 6 months ago, you need to present you N.E.W.T.s in almost the same amount of time." She would say to the class as if it were a backup excuse for the quantity of homework she was giving.

But the one thing Hermione wasn't sure about Transfiguration was the Animagui form. It would have thrilled her the fact that she could become an animal whenever she wanted but –if her Patronus was an otter, she couldn't imagine an otter usually walking on the streets of Diagon Alley. Not happening. _Although, been an Animagus won't be a complete waste of time, as it could be my Animagi form is not an otter. Maybe after finishing school I'll think about it._ She thought while McGonagall entered the class in her cat form.

"Today we'll be practising our human transfiguration incantation. I know some of you have mastered it quite well," she said looking with a knowing smile towards Hermione "but it is required for your final examinations. So we must practise. And I hope everyone here has gotten a good night sleep." They got in pairs, Hermione stayed with Harry, and they had to transfigure their partner 7 times, into different animals and persons.

"This type of magic may leave you magically exhausted and drained for days, I know, but I made sure to tell your teachers not to pressure you too much for the rest of the week. I don't want any student in the hospital wing not being able to even transfigure a match into a needle at the cause of drain of magic."

"Not making us dance anymore now, is she?" Harry teased her with a smile playing on his lips and Hermione rolled her eyes to him. Ever since the little "scene" Draco and Ron did back in September, McGonagall told them if they wanted to practise their dancing skills, they could do it in their free time. She practically told them to piss off.

Harry tried to transfigure Hermione to a different person (it was harder than into an animal) 4 times, but he just couldn't. He had spent the night before goofing around with Ron, trying to see who charmed the entire Gryffindor common room with more colours (something they did until 3 in the morning). And it didn't help him much today. So after 3 successful human transfigurations and 3 animal ones, Harry felt the magic leaving him, and he had to take a seat, almost falling off the chair.

"Harry how irresponsible can you be? You're eighteen! Besides, Professor McGonagall warned us last class not to do anything too magically exhausting before this lesson!" Hermione said disapprovingly, thinking which form she would use first.

"Potter, just what did you do yesterday? Mr. Weasley is the same as you -if not worse!" McGonagall said approaching them, and they looked over to Ron, who decided he didn't care at all and fell asleep on the desk. It left an exasperated Luna no choice, but to Transfigure him, while he was asleep. "Pray you won't have to use magic in your next class, if not, I'm afraid you'll be spending the night at the hospital wing."

After the class was almost finished, she told the students to wait a little more because she had an announcement to make. She decided to dismiss Harry and Ron from all of their classes before Harry passed out on the floor, as Ron was already asleep on his desk, and sent them to rest for what was left of the day. It left Hermione and Luna to be paired up until the end of the lesson.

"Before you go, I wanted to remind you of the ball we'll have the nineteenth of December to celebrate not only the end of the war but the holidays as well. I hope everyone enjoys it, as well as having a partner. The only difference from the Yule Ball is that this time, students from all years will be able to attend. As well as this ball will finish at midnight for the first, second and third graders. And for the rest it will finish… until 2 past thirty in the morning." She said the last part with a hard face, and some students cheered while some girls giggled. "Nevertheless, even though this time the only students attending will be from Hogwarts, we still hope your behaviour remains respectfully and decorously throughout the ball."

"I suppose you're going with Draco, aren't you?" Luna said innocently when everybody was grabbing their things before leaving the class.

"I don't know… I guess so." Hermione said blushing a little.

"Unless your tastes lie with someone older…" She said looking up at her with her big, baby blue eyes. Hermione went red.

"W-why do you say that?" She said accidentally dropping her stuff on the floor. She bent over the floor to pick them up, Luna helping her.

"Luna, _what_ exactly do you know?" She whispered at her, yearning to know the witch's answer.

"Hermione, first, you must know that my intentions are never to hurt, but quite the opposite. All the knowledge I possess is to be kept to myself until I see the opportunity to help." She said with a smile and Hermione felt relief Luna wasn't going to spill it over the entire school. But still looked at her anxiously, waiting to hear how she found out.

"No one told me anything if that is what you want to know. I realised it by myself." Her smile grew wider as well as Hermione's eyes.

"H-How?" She said after they stood up and walked together out of the classroom.

"I like to perceive the things no one cares about. The little details that remain hidden under the neglect of others." She said tucking a long, platinum lock of hair behind her ear, making her greenish gold, leaf-shaped, earring to dance.

"Ever since you mentioned your secret admirer with Ginny, I had doubts about him. It was your birthday poem that gave him away. You see, back in my fifth year, I found one of the secret hiding places of Peeves. Much like a Magpie, Peeves has a little nest with his "trophies" he's collected from over the years. Petty things like caps, earrings, socks, ties, glasses and some lipstick. But the thing catching my attention was a piece of old parchment. It was a small poem, written in the year 1983 I think. But at the bottom of the wrinkled paper it had the initials S.S.. It could've been anyone, but after reading your birthday card, the style of writing was the same. And since Professor Snape began teaching in the year 1981, I guessed there really couldn't be anyone else. And well, it was a matter of time, I started paying closer attention to both of you. And judging by his sudden absence for days and his behaviour towards you, I also guessed he was a veela, you being his mate."

Hermione had plates instead of eyes, blooming roses instead of cheeks, and her mouth was dry from being open too much time, gaping at Luna. "I..I…" She said but couldn't formulate more. Luna chuckled. "What I also found out, is that he probably is either half or one-quarter veela. If he had more veela blood in his system, Draco would've been probably dead by now, or with a permanent injury." Luna meant to go on, but the terrified look on Hermione's face told her otherwise.

"Sorry, if any of what I said caused you considerable discomfort."

"N-No, it's fine," Hermione said swallowing hard and licking her dry lips. "I-I already had my suspicions as well about him not being a full-blooded veela. But I know even though he has less blood, he has to take a potion of some sort to fully suppress his veela magic." She finished, walking at the side of the petite witch along the corridors.

"Luna," Hermione said after some time, stopping her tracks and looking dead in the eye at the blond witch.

"Please don't give this information to anybody else." She said grabbing her shoulders. "And Draco already knows." She added.

"I suspected as much. And as I tell you, all the information I have won't be used to potentially hurt anyone."

"Thank you, Luna. By the way, do you know who are you going to the dance?" She said trying to change the topic.

"I still have no partner, but I have a strong feeling Blaise Zabini will ask me. He has hinted it a few times over the past weeks."

"Zabini? I though you had something going on with Neville. He sure does like you. Thought you might invite him to the dance."

"Oh yes, he's still a student after all, so he is most certain to attend. Neville is one of my dearest friends, but I haven't found myself with a proper reason to fancy him. And these past weeks getting to know Blaise have been great and refreshing. So I can say I have no real attachments to anyone at the moment."

"Oh, I see…"

"Granger!" Both witches turned and saw Draco Malfoy jogging towards them.

"I think I will leave now," Luna said smiling and skipped away before Hermione said anything.

"Granger," Draco slightly panted stopping next to Hermione "may I walk you to your next class?" He said surprisingly politely.

"Don't you have any classes to attend?" She said arching an eyebrow to him.

"Well, I only had 7 O.W.L.s worth passing into N.E.W.T.s as you very well know that," Truth was, Draco had _only_ applied to do 7 O.W.L.s . As many classes bored him (much like Care of Magical Creatures or Divination), he only applied to those he found worth studying. Excelling in every one of them, of course.

"so giving I only have 7 courses, that leaves me with an extra space of free time… which is right now. So if you please." He said grabbing her books and starting to walk. "Oh yes," He said turning to her, stopping his tracks "Which class do you have next?"

"Ancient Runes." She smiled at him.

* * *

Draco could say he was a tad nervous about the possibility of Hermione leaving him for the veela. As he very well knew, she wasn't the type to just let die someone else if it could be avoided. _Why must veelas fucking die of a heartbreak?_ But he was just a tad nervous, he would reassure himself. So he made sure to spend and care for every single moment he had with Hermione.

He payed more attention to her, was more affectionate to her, and also followed the etiquette books his mother had given to him. They specified how to treat properly your witch and how to be a real gentleman with her. In the past, he only read the first chapters of them –_How to properly court a witch_, and never bothered to look past that part.

But nevertheless, he was anxious to the point of actually asking reassurance from Hermione for the ball.

"Granger, even though we haven't actually spoken about it, we are going together to the dance aren't we?" He said the next day, in the almost-empty library.

"Some insecurity I noted in your voice, Malfoy?" She said teasingly, looking up from her book.

"Pfft, how could you even say that? No, I'm just making sure you don't suddenly go running off to someone else's arms."

"And why on Earth would I do that?" She said arching her eyebrow to him, closing her book.

"I don't know… maybe because your judgement towards _certain_ wizards has changed over the past weeks?" He asked trying to sound innocent, looking at the nearest bookshelf with a newfound interest.

"What exactly are you pointing at Draco Malfoy?" She snapped and he looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes.

"I certainly do hope it's not what I believe it is because if that is the case, you can go by yourself to the dance!" She hissed so that nobody else could hear them. She had a reddish colour on her cheeks and Draco could almost swear he saw steam come out of her ears.

"I'm sorry." He said after she decided to resume her reading, as if nothing had happened. She looked up to him but didn't close her book.

"I know that even if in a parallel universe you decided you indeed wanted to go with _him_ it would be impossible." This time, she decided to take a full look at him, and she closed her book again.

"I know I have been jumpy with the topic of… _my godfather_." He said and with the last word he had never felt more nauseated in his entire life.

"Granger, you must understand I have never felt this way before. This… romantic feelings I have developed towards you are quite new in the sense _I honestly don't know_ what will happen if I ever lose you." And then he lowered his voice "I never thought I would say this out loud but… I think I'm _scared_." Hermione could see a faint rosy colour painting his pale cheeks. _I was hoping this wasn't necessary, but I just cannot lose Granger. If I have to be completely honest with her, so beat it._

To his surprise, he heard her soft, quiet laughter after he said his piece. She looked up to him, and not only saw the faint colour on his cheeks becoming more prominent, but a confused look too.

"I'm not laughing at you, nor mocking you in any way if that is what you're wondering." She clarified.

"I'm just… glad you care. It just makes me happy to see it. I know you're not a person who reveals his emotions often. But it only makes it more special to know this must be critical if you do." She said and it took all of his might and the piercing look on Mdme. Pince, to stop lunging across the small table and snog her until her lips were bruised.

"You know Granger, you're lucky we're in the library, otherwise I would've snogged you senseless until you passed out." He said and she thanked no one heard that because she went scarlet.

"So this means you'll honour me with your presence as my dance partner?" He continued and she smiled.

"You shouldn't have doubted in the first place! Of course, I will go with you Draco."

After finishing homework, Hermione told him she would go and meet Ginny at the Gryffindor common room so they parted different ways.

He decided to meet Blaise, as he didn't exactly get along with many Slytherins now. As much as many of them despised him for being involved with Voldemort, many still admired him for being who he was. He never really cared for neither, but was a little bit sad most of his close friends weren't with him. Mainly because half of his friends were either hiding or dead. It surprised him he missed Goyle, but the only way to contact him now was only by owl.

After his father was imprisoned in Azkaban, before he could be questioned as well, his mother fled with him out of the country. He told Draco his mother advised him it was best if he wasn't visited, and he would be finishing his studies in Durmstrang. Most probably never to return to the UK. Crabbe... well he was dead. Not that Draco minded much about him.

Theo, although he and Draco weren't the best of friends, they had maintained an amicable and respectful relationship over the years. The time where Draco knew Theo had outsmarted him was when he stayed completely out of the Death Eaters business. He later knew, by Blaise, Theo had family living in Sweden and went to live with them since his father had died in the war as a Death Eater. He left Hogwarts mere weeks before the war erupted, and he was one of the few students who finished school properly, by doing his N.E.W.T.s. Theo had also sent Draco an owl, telling him he had taken an apprenticeship to become a potions master, and he was currently working in the Ministry of Sweden. He also told him he planned to return to the UK, but it could take him years.

And Pansy, well… that was another story. Draco's relationship with Pansy had been great for his first 5 years at Hogwarts, but she gave him a cold shoulder in their sixth grade. It had been when he decided to fully stop the advances she was giving him to go after Granger. He and Pansy had kissed, snogged, and.. other stuff in the past, but never actually saw the prospects of more than friendship. As true Slytherins, they only saw what was in it for both of them, and it worked just fine. But she was upset Draco preferred a _Mudblood _over her, as she had told him.

They resumed their friendship after Draco strained his with Hermione. But he never let Pansy insult her ever again, and he it made very clear their relationship was to be kept platonic _permanently._ And he had all the intentions of resuming his friendship with Hermione if she let him in the future. As much as Pansy didn't like it, Draco had been her friend ever since they were nine, so she reluctantly accepted.

They both cared for each other, and Draco found himself also missing her company up to an extent. She had also gone out of the country, but for different reasons. He received an owl from her not too long ago, telling him she was now living happily in the city of Strasbourg, France, working as a journalist for a witch-fashion magazine. She also told him she was in a happy relationship with a German, head of a department in the French ministry, wizard.

_**"We may have little more than 6 months of relationship, but he says he loves me. ****He's rich, he's a pureblood, and he makes me happy. It depends on his work though, we might go and live for a year to Japan. If there's going to be a wedding, I'll make sure to invite you. You can even bring… your **_**_Muggle-Born _**_**girlfriend with you if you want."**_

Part of the letter had said. Draco saw the letter had the word Mud scratched beside the word Muggle-Born. _Well, she sounds a tad less elitist. That's good _he'd thought. He had never seen Pansy as the marriage type, but as ambitious as the girl was, she would do it if it meant reputation, power and money. His family wasn't the only one left at the brink of social diminishment after the war. His mother was doing whatever she could to remain almost untouched on the social ladder. So he guessed Pansy was doing something of the sort.

He found Blaise walking near to him with an obvious, goofy smile on his face, and Draco approached him.

"You might even get confused as a Hufflepuff if you keep that smile of yours. We Slytherins don't make such a fool of ourselves with those smiles." She teased Blaise as he walked by his side.

"I'm just happy mate. I believe I have the enough courage now to finally make Lovegood my bird."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, let's just say I finally made her _blush_. You don't know how _hard_ it was for me to accomplish it. Making her smile sure is easy, but getting a reaction like that from her is more difficult than when we learned how to apparate."

Draco only chuckled at him.

"You sure have gone bonkers for her. I'm afraid some of her madness is rubbing on you. I might as well start calling you Batty Zabini or something of the sort." Draco said putting his hand on Blaise's forehead as if to look for fever.

"So original with your jokes," Blaise said sarcastically, slapping away Draco's hand.

"Anyways, I can't believe I even dared to mock her before! I can now believe why she's in Ravenclaw, she's _very _smart. Not as much as your bird of course, but she has more brains than most of the girls I ever fancied."

"Well, I guess I can't really judge you. Your tastes have always been rather _odd_. Not to mention the she-weasel you used to fancy in our sixth grade. _Filthy blood traitor,_" Draco said mocking Blaise "yeah right. You practically drooled every time you saw her play Quidditch!"

"I… I barely fancied her if that's what you mean! It didn't mean I am still drooling whenever I see her, not like _others_, regarding a bushy haired witch." Draco opened his mouth to say something but closed it. "Yes, Ginny Weasley is a gorgeous bird, but my point here is, what I have found in Luna is not only appearances, but also brains. And as picky and arrogant I am with girls, I don't think I'll find a better one than Luna.

And you can't judge me Draco Malfoy," he said raising a finger at him "because your more-than-a-fling with Granger maybe be criticized for other reasons, but your relationship with her is still as _odd_ as mine like you say."

"Fine. You win." He said raising his arms as in defeat "I won't make fun again of your witch if you don't do it with mine. Not that either of them is ours..." He muttered the last part looking down.

"I thought you were already in a relationship with her," Blaise said. "You sure act like a couple already. Anybody would be blind to think you're "just friends"."

"Yeah well, it's complicated. Its' not that either of us is afraid of the title or that we don't want to be together, but it's deeper than that. Maybe in the future I'll be able to explain." He said and Blaise understood. They might be best friends, but they knew there were some things meant to be kept within themselves.

"By the way, speaking of which, why aren't _you _alreadyin a relationship with Lovegood? Or why is it I saw you like if you've been hit with an Imperio?"

"No, we're not dating, _yet_. But I asked her to the dance and after she thankfully said yes, I stole a kiss from her and well… you could say things are going great." He said looking pleased with his triumph.

_I hope it were that easy for me _Draco gloomily thought, wishing he and Hermione switched places with Blaise and Luna.

* * *

The first meeting Hermione had with Severus didn't happen until mid-November. Like the first time he asked her to meet her in his Potions office, he repeated the process, passing a letter discreetly into her hand telling her when to meet.

He made sure to arrange all of his affairs as a Headmaster as well as a teacher to make sure nobody would interrupt them. He knew he could scare easily enough persistent students with doubts about their homework. But he wasn't so sure he would be able to explain if Minerva suddenly came in and saw her favourite student sitting, drinking tea with him. He made sure he was prepared with some excuses, just in case.

Just as eager his veela side was to meet with his mate, his rational, human side, was eager to throw up.

Either way, both his veela a human side or whatever they were, were equally nervous for the meeting. _What am I to say when she arrives? Should a cup of tea be enough for the evening? What are we even going to talk about? _He decided it was too late for freaking out as well as backing away. _Maybe I'll offer a cup of tea politely, and then I can tell her off, and to leave me to die in peace._ He mentally fought with himself for minutes until a knock on his door interrupted him.

Before opening the door, he reassured himself he had taken the new veela potion he'd made (it was working remarkably well). Then, he took a deep breath and proceeded to open the door.

He looked sideways to see if there was no soul in the corridors before focusing his eyes on the witch in front of him. Severus wasn't precisely the tallest of all men, but he was a great deal taller than many of his peers, and the witch standing in front of him looked rather short besides him.

She was wearing her school robes, as it was a Thursday, and her hair was mildly tamed in a knot that let a few curls fall wildly to her sides. She too, wasn't wearing any makeup, and the only color she had on her face were her natural, strawberry lips. _Lovely colour_ he mentally commented, but could not figure out which part of him was the one who thought about it. He also didn't know if he cared.

Her big, brown eyes looked up at him expectantly and he said "Come in." And re-entered his office without looking back. He heard the door closing, meaning they were safe from prying eyes and he was able to relax just a little.

"Care for some tea Miss Granger?" He said like the last time they were alone in his office.

"If you're so kind, thank you." She said shyly and he gestured for her to take a seat in his old dark wooden chairs draped with dark purple velvet.

He poured 2 tea cups with some of his stored Oolong tea he had and carried a tray with some biscuits he hadn't cared to eat at breakfast.

After some silent minutes of only hearing the tea being drank, he saw the discomfort on her face. _She probably doesn't know what to talk about too,_ but to his surprise, she was the first one to break the cold silence.

"I never really thanked you for the poem you wrote to me for my birthday." She said just as shyly as when she thanked him for the tea. He was taken aback _It is rather obvious the culprit from the poem was none other than me, but why bring it up?_

"Why so sure it was me the one of the poem?" he said even though he knew she knew it had been him. Truth to be told, Severus was always keen not only in potions but also in literature. One of his deepest secrets was a little, personal thing he allowed himself. Read Muggle and Wizard's literature. Because he thought most of them were like his father had been, he hated Muggles alright, but he recognized there were few, who had the brilliance to write more than decently. So in his younger years, he used to write poems and short stories, to later either burn them or keep them in one of his old books. It was one of the few things he liked to do to entertain himself.

"I couldn't say I'm one hundred percent sure, but I wouldn't consider myself an eye candy for everyone to write me a poem like that. Besides, you look like the kind of person who likes to write." Hermione said, lowering her voice with the last part. _What did she know? _He narrowed his eyes at her, but she quickly added,

"Not only that, I figured out by the initials written in it, S.V.S.. At first I wasn't sure who had sent it, but when I found out you were a veela, I deducted the initials were for _Severus Veela Snape_. So if my theory is correct, then it was you who sent it." She said with a little more volume in her voice. _Her mind is just as brilliant as I last remember, I'll give he points for that. This meeting might not be a complete waste of time._

"Very well. Indeed, you are correct about your theory Miss Granger. Though I must say, I wasn't in my five senses when I wrote that, so don't mind asking me further questions about it." He said with a final tone and she merely nodded.

"Still, it was very nicely written. Thank you." She said with a trembling voice fearing she would enrage him. But he decided to ignore it.

"I presume you're not having problems with your courses so far? I would only think, a witch like you knows even more than what is asked in the N.E.W.T.s" He said without thinking. The statement had come out with a mixture of his rational and veela self. She only looked down, trying to avoid his stare as her cheeks were scarlet.

"I-I haven't had any inconvenience with any subjects. I have found I already know how to do everything that has been asked so far."

"Then I presume you'll be at the top of everybody in your examinations?" He said with the slightest sneer he could give. _Is he trying to make a conversation with me?_ She thought but quickly snapped out from it and nodded.

"I would certainly like to. My wish is to work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I really despise how house elfs are treated, as if they were objects! If I got to work in that department, there would certainly be some changes. Like elf wages and holidays for example." She stated, and Severus thought she had genuine passion with the topic. She laughed nervously after the strange look he gave her,

"I'm sorry if I bored you with this topic, but I really wish to see some equality with how magical creatures like elfs are treated in the future, that's all."

"Don't misunderstand me, I was just wondering, when was the last time I saw someone like you. Willingly to give money for the work of an elf. I have never heard of such a wizard. You must have real courage to want to work there and actually make a difference." She blushed at his words, but Severus saw something he thought he wouldn't see it happen. Her smile. She had smiled at something _he_ had said! That little twitch on her lips, showing her white teeth were enough for Severus' heart to give a summersault. He didn't know nor cared which part of him it was, but he decided he didn't want to stop that tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They talked and talked, discussing the many wonders of potions, some spells Severus remembered were taught in his youth and even some anecdotes. Hermione laughed once, and Severus thought it was a strangely charming thing. After the fourth cup of tea, wanting to put her cup back to the table, her hand slipped and the cup fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Oh, gods! I'm so sorry, I'll clean it up." She said bending over the floor picking up the pieces the Muggle way.

"Don't pick it up with-" he started when an "Ouch!" interrupted him "your bare hands." He finished bitterly. He got up to get a cloth, but before he could stop himself, he saw red droplets falling from her ivory fingertip. As if his body began managing itself with an empowering feeling of protection, he also bent over and took her hand in his. Their faces were so close he could smell her perfume, and saw her knot had come lose and her curls were sprawled everywhere. It was a very empowering smell, being so close to her, even with his potion. His vision became blurry and could barely see her hands, as she was trying to wipe the blood off with her robes using her free hand.

"I'm all right." He heard her say as if her voice was far, far away. Before he could stop himself in any way, he did the most unthinkable thing. _He kissed her fingertip_. A peck, merely a kiss on her fingertip. And in that brief second, he tasted her skin and blood and he felt his mouth watering. Just as fast as he kissed her finger, he remembered where they stood and retracted with the same speed.

"I-I… I'm sorry." He managed to say.

"I… it's not bleeding anymore." She said with a shocked expression on her face and he looked at her in disbelief. He looked up at the clock and saw their _little_ meeting had lasted an hour.

"Miss Granger, as much as I regret my actions, I advise you to leave. It's almost past curfew and you must return to your dorm. Don't worry about the cup, I'll clean it myself." He said, with his body stiff and with all the politeness in the world.

"Y-yes P-professor." She stammered and proceeded to leave the room, also very stiffly. She stopped at the doorway to give him a last glance and said, "Thank you for tonight, I look forward to the next time." with a little smile and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

The first Quidditch match of the season started the same day as the snow. It wasn't the fluffy, white snow you would see in children's books. No, the weather of the match was more like rain combined with grayish snow.

Ginny's mood was quite the opposite from the weather. She was the only one in her team with the highest spirits. But she was also the most nervous of the team. It was her first game as the team captain, and every eight grader had already told her they counted on her. She felt a little pressured but assured the others it helped to concentrate on the game.

"_I heard from McGonagall that it is possible for Gwenon Jones from the Holyhead Harpies to be present in the finals for the Cup. If we play __really__ well this season, I may even become one!"_ Hermione remembered Ginny excitedly telling her the afternoon before the game.

The Quidditch pitch was packed, not only because there were students who were repeating a year, but as it was the first match played since last year, every single wizard residing in Hogwarts was present even though it was a Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game.

Hermione had managed to bring Draco to sit by her side, but with the condition she didn't try to charm his scarf with the Gryffindor colours.

Seamus offered to be the commentator for the match, and although he wasn't as funny as Lee Jordan had been, he still managed to crack the audience with a few jokes.

Draco was sitting at the left of Hermione while Harry was at her right. He wasn't exactly next to her because Ron and Hermione still weren't precisely on speaking terms yet, so he sat a little bit further from them.

The game started, and every single one of them –minus Draco, were cheering for Gryffindor. Harry's cheerings towards Ginny were above the rest of his peers, and when Gryffindor scored the first 10 points, the stadium roared with a new cheer.

Hermione's eyes had been set for Ginny, but her eyes unconsciously passed trough the stands were the professors sat. As she quickly scanned the school staff stand, she saw a pair of black, piercing eyes looking straight at her, not minding the match at all. She couldn't help but remember days before when her professor had kissed her fingertip. At his touch, it had healed immediately, and Hermione refused to accept it had sent through her a wave of not only comfort, but pleasantness as well. She looked up and saw the obsidian eyes were still looking at her, and they looked straight into her brown ones.

Hermione sighed as she realised, for the first time, she couldn't quite take her eyes off the intense gaze.

* * *

**A/N: I'll give you bacon pancakes if you review! Hope to see you next week ;D**


	11. Unexpected visit

**A/N: Mis lectores! Hi to you all, I'm excited to post a new chapter at last! I'm very grateful for all of your support and I hope you continue enjoying this story as much as I like writing it. The usual drill, I'll correct anything that needs correction (I think I'll get a beta after I finish this story, I don't know), everything in your minds about this story whether it's good, bad or neutral please share it. **

**Please review and enjoy :***

* * *

The month of November was coming to an end, winter was rapidly approaching and everybody could already feel soaked to the skin with the frosty breeze. Everyone except for the Gryffindors. Not only was their common room the warmest of the lot (something debatable with the Hufflepuffs), but their high spirits after winning against Hufflepuff kept them excited enough to forget about the weather.

Ginny, Hermione found, was the hardest to beat up in high spirits –and talking. She couldn't be stopped when she started going on about their victory, and if someone didn't shut her up in time, she could go on rambling and rambling until a hex was thrown their way.

"They may laugh at me right now, but when _I'm_ a professional Quidditch player, they'll see who laughs then," Ginny said to Hermione and threw death glares at some passing seventh year Slytherins, who were mocking and imitating Ginny. She was trying very hard not to snap at them, after all, her temper had got the best of her before, and if it weren't for Luna or Hermione, Ginny would already be in detention for hexing at most 5 students.

"At least you haven't hexed them yet. By the way, how's Harry handling things?"

"Oh, he's doing so much better than I am. I love the way he defends me, but I wouldn't mind if he threw some hexes. But I don't sincerely care about them anymore. I mean –we did win against Hufflepuff, so why shouldn't I be proud? After the third score, I _knew_ we had the game…" _Oh no, there she goes again… _thought Hermione as Ginny seemed to forget about Hermione's disinterest in the sport.

She loved Ginny with her soul, but after the fifth time she re-telled her the game (as if Hermione didn't see it), Hermione didn't have any more space in her brain for Quidditch.

"Hey Ginny, do you know what'll you wear for the ball?" Hermione asked in a desperate attempt to distract Ginny's mind away from Quidditch.

"Oh Godric, thanks for reminding me!" Ginny said stopping her tracks.

"I was talking to Luna about it the other day actually. We agreed on going next weekend to Hogsmeade to look for dresses. She needs to go earlier because she wants to add her _personal touch_ to it. I was going to tell you, but my mind was wrapped in Quidditch." She giggled. Hermione gave her a nervous laugh in response. _Uh-oh._ She wasn't expecting that answer. One of Hermione's least favourite things was shopping for clothes. But she too, needed a dress.

"Sure, I'll go with you. I also need a dress for the matter." She said, glad it at least took Ginny's mind off Quidditch for a while.

"It's set then." She said smiling.

Classes went overly normal for the exception of the load of work they've gotten so far. Even to Hermione, the schoolwork had started to be heavier than any other year; it was true the homework and difficulty of all their subjects had increased dramatically in comparison when they had to do their O.W.L.s. But she was still the very best in all of her classes, and even with the boring Professor Binns' class, it didn't stop her from putting full attention.

Potions was a different story. It had started, as every other class, innocently. Same strict Professor Snape with his death glare, same way of teaching, and the only differences from past years would be the difficulty and the amount of work in their potions and essays. How wrong Hermione was.

Her views regarding Potions did an ugly turn of 360º. It was now not only a class with more difficult potions than years before, it was the class where she would see a half-quarter veela, whom its mate was none other than her. Their class encounters were inevitable, and they knew they had to start acting as if there was nothing going on if they didn't want further attention towards them.

After their first meeting, Snape hadn't spoken a single word to her. And she didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. All she knew was the worrisome thought of her enjoying every bit of the sudden, brief yet warm kiss, his lips planted on her fingertip.

It was a secret no one, not even the totality of her mind knew. She didn't want to accept it. _It's just the magical hormones acting. Just like Amortentia, there are no feelings involved, just __magic! _she would reassure herself constantly since their meeting.

It had surprised her, in her Potion's class, how effortlessly Snape looked when he ignored her. As if her presence didn't bother him at all. It surprised her more when he discreetly pressed on her hand the little piece of parchment she knew too well already. It was the date of their next meeting.

_**Meet me in my potions office after dinner on Thursday. **__**Bring your wand with you.**_

_My wand? Why? Not that I'd go anywhere without it, but why is it required for our next meeting?_ Hermione tried to look and catch her professor's eye, in hope he would give any hint of his message, but his sight was nowhere at reach and he didn't look at her what was left for the class. "Hmph, as if he knew." Hermione hissed under her breath.

* * *

Two days after, she found herself laying in the snow outside in the school grounds next to Draco. It was slightly snowing, but the cold could easily sink deep in the flesh of anyone who was unprotected. She thanked their winter coats protected them adequately from the icy weather.

After several attempts at convincing her they wouldn't freeze to death, she complied and fell like a log of wood in the soft, white snow.

They were near the lake, in an area adjacent to the forbidden forest. It was somewhat deserted, where they could have peace and talk freely without any curious ears and dynamic mouths.

He gazed Hermione's profile, and he saw her nose had turned a bright shade of red due to the coldness in the air (his would be doubtlessly redder), but her hair seemed to favour it. Varying from gold to a dark chestnut, her curls were falling in the form of waves down to her shoulders; not anymore looking like the daughter of a Chow dog and they seemed tangled with the falling snowflakes. The view reminded him so much of the time of their first kiss in Hogsmeade. _Gods, it seems decades ago, but it was hardly two years ago…_ He saw her smile when a few snowflakes fell into her eyelashes. _The sight only makes me re-live the flash of events like it was yesterday. _He thought she looked beautiful in the contrast of the snow.

"When are you going to stop ogling at me to get a glimpse at the beautiful view?" She said, catching him off-ward, signaling at the black lake, who it's giant squid suddenly emerged few of it's tentacles and splashed the water to break the tiny bits of ice there had been formed on the water. The slosh of water reached the lakeside up onto where they were laying, and they felt scanty droplets of bitter, raw water.

Hermione shrieked and Draco swore, "Bloody Squid!". They almost moved from their spot, but then they saw the tentacles slowly submerging into the lake and stayed.

They resumed their peacefulness and Hermione quietly commented. "I've actually never seen the entire Squid. Only it's tentacles."

"You haven't? Not even when you were chained in the depths of the lake?" He asked and shrugged to the thought.

She laughed. "Merlin, no! Thankfully I didn't have to; I would've been too terrified to go on with the hostage thing if I did. No, we were charmed, so the moment my head was underwater, I fell asleep until I was out again." She explained.

"Oh well, that seems more logical. You know, you can sometimes see the Squid in the Slytherin common room." She turned to look at him unfazed, and he frowned.

"I thought you would be a little surprised." He said.

"I would be if I hadn't read it first in _Hogwarts a History_." She giggled.

"I should've known. I inform you I have read the book too, but it was years ago and I can't remember all of its detail. Not like _others_." He said and she blushed. One thing sure about Hermione Granger, apart from being a bookworm, was her ability to retain most of what she's read.

"Have _you_ seen it? I read you could see it, but only when it swam very close to the windows."

"I believe once or twice in my stay here. It wasn't a nice thing to see mind you; the first time I saw it was in my second year. I was alone in the common room reading and suddenly, an enormous eye was outside of one of the windows. I screamed and when a prefect came to see what had happened, I told him it was Crabbe's scream he'd heard, who was just coming into the common room, and I smoothly made my escape." He said, and she laughed.

"We were told, if something were to happen in Hogwarts, and the Squid had to intervene, it would favour the Slytherins first. I believe it was an excuse to compensate the coldness and humidity of the dungeons." He said and after some time had passed added. "I could take you some time to the Slytherin common room. As we're both head students, we could make an excuse for patrolling the common rooms. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll be able to catch a glimpse of it." He grinned.

"Thank you for the offer Draco." She said dispassionately with a close-mouthed smile. She didn't like the thought of going into a room full of Slytherins, and less with the fact she was Muggle-Born. He seemed to detect this.

"Granger, you know half of them are too ashamed to talk to you, and the other half have no option but to ignore you. And you wouldn't think for a second I was reckless enough bringing you when everybody would be inside, did you?" She seemed to relax more at this.

"Then I'll think about it."

They fell silent after a few moments, and Draco resumed his staring at Hermione, who was humming a melody with her eyes closed.

"I thought I told you to enjoy the view." She said with her eyes still closed, smiling.

"But _I am_ enjoying the fascinating view." Draco could almost sense her eyes rolling from under her eyelids.

"If you could be even more cloying, then please do." She said with a half laugh. _Was that sarcasm I heard in her voice? Merlin, I adore this witch!_

"Deal." He said and before she could say "What?" he was on top of her, pinning her wrists at her sides.

She parted her lips to retort and his were on top of hers, silencing her complaints. All the coldness in the weather was long lost forgotten with the warmth of their kiss. Teasing her softly at the corners of her mouth, he kissed her mercilessly. Their lips were battling for domination, and with brief but warm nibbles to her lips, he fought with her. She realised he was in for winning, but she didn't want to lose either. Draco finally won, his tongue meeting with hers, deepening the kiss, winning a sigh from her. She gasped when with a swift movement of his hand; his cold fingers touched the bare skin revealed from her hip.

Touching the hem of her skirt, he traced his lips downward to her neck and his teeth and tongue, seemed fascinated by the smooth touch. She moaned as his kisses went even further down to her collarbone. She tried to reach his hair, but he pinned her free hand again to her side.

"Draco…" She sighed as his lips found the back of her ear.

"Yes? What is it?" He whispered in her ear and his tongue traced her earlobe slightly, feeling her shiver under his touch.

"T-they… They'll see…" She said weakly and he softly laughed.

"Granger, there's no one even close to where we are."

With lips fervently snogging, he finally let her hand roam in his hair and he remembered how exquisite her hand felt against his skin and how he didn't want the feeling to ever end. He unbuttoned her top buttons of her blouse and his fingers caressed her collarbone and further down, teasing the beginning of her breasts. She moaned in response and he unbuttoned another button, revealing the hem of her bra. He traced his lips down to the hem and teasing her, he went up to kiss her lips again.

Draco didn't know how much longer their snogging session had lasted, but when droplets of freezing water fell upon then once more, they jumped and abruptly stopped what they were doing.

They were panting from the sudden interruption and looked at each other. Hermione was pink from her cheeks and red from her nose, hair dancing in the wind, and her clothes were all in place for the exception of her blouse, which was unbuttoned up to her chest, revealing a bit of her bra. He couldn't stop himself from looking and she realised this, for she blushed even more prominently and proceeded to arrange her clothes furiously.

After she had finished arranging her clothes, they both looked at each other and laughed, forgetting all about the coldness.

* * *

Hermione walked hand-in-hand with Draco, down an empty corridor soon after they finished breakfast early in the morning. They really didn't mind about the stares of others anymore, but they preferred to make displays of affection when all costs were cleared.

"Do you ever think about fate?" Hermione suddenly asked and they stopped their tracks.

"Why do you ask? I thought you didn't believe in that." He said resuming their walking.

"I don't. _I don't._" She said as if reassuring herself. She shook her head. "Anyways, don't you think about the future? Like, what will happen next?" She said and he looked at her, worry visible in her appearance.

"If you're asking what will happen after school ends, I'll certainly apply to the Ministry in either the Department of Mysteries or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Whichever comes first. _But_, I'll first help you find your parents and restore their memories." He said. "Was that what you meant?"

"I-I not exactly. I mean –I'm very grateful for you help to find my parents but, I meant more like, who we are and what are we meant to do here, sort of thing."

"Granger, you're going to give yourself a headache if you keep dwelling on those thoughts. I don't mean it's a bad thing, but if it's causing you a lot of troubles, I believe you better stop." He said and kissed her forehead. He felt bad about her, but he didn't exactly wanted her thoughts to return to a _particula_r wizard.

She smiled at him and he couldn't resist kissing her. Catching her lips in his, he caressed her curls with his hand and pulled her towards him with the other, grasping all of her back with one arm. They lost themselves in their little world until someone yelled Hermione's name.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed running towards them, a piece of parchment raised on his hand. For the second time in a week, they abruptly separated with a jolt, but not before the green eyes watched their lip-lock.

His exclamations died in an instant and his mouth opening and his eyes widened.

"H-Harry! I-I er… _oh, gods!_ I'm er…" Hermione stuttered, without making any sense and Draco talked for her.

"Potter, before you think anything, our relationship has nothing to do with you, and it started after she broke up with the weasel. So erase those thoughts away from your mind. Secondly, no, we're not anything official at the moment but we would like to keep this as quiet as this has been. So we would be very pleased if you kept your mouth shut. Is that clear?" Harry numbly nodded and Draco smirked.

"See you in class, Granger." He said directing himself at Hermione and purposely planted a fat kiss on her lips before he started walking, ignoring Harry.

Once he was out of sight, she looked at Harry with big, terrified eyes and opened her mouth, nothing coming out of it.

"Well, I think I would have liked you to inform me before your_ friend_ did." He said with a half grin.

"Harry look, wait –you're not mad?"

"Not really. I mean, I hate Malfoy is an experienced Legilimens, but he's right. I can't but in your relationships, and it did happen after you and Ron break up, so I'm not pleased, but I'm also not entirely mad about it." Hermione let out air she didn't know she was holding and relief washed all over her.

"Thanks Merlin."

"Who else knows?" Harry inquired.

"I would say Zabini, Draco would naturally have already told him, Ginny and Luna."

"You told Ginny _before_ me?" He said offended she had preferred to tell his girlfriend before him.

"It's not that I wanted to, but she kind of corned me in sixth grade, so I gave in. It's only logical she knows about it now, we sometimes talk about it." Seeing the expression on Harry's face she added. "But you must understand, Harry, I didn't want our relationship to suffer. I can barely handle with Ron ignoring me, and imagine what would've become of me if you both did." His expression softened a bit.

"I can't argue with that." He said in understanding "Are you planning to tell Ron?" he said after a pause.

"Once we are on a normal talking basis, yes, I'll tell him."

He shook his head, remembering why he was there and told her, "Anyways, 'Mione, I wanted you to see this." He said handing her, the piece of parchment in his hand. It was an already opened letter. "You had already left when I received it. The owl carrying it was old, so it arrived after all the mail did."

She looked at the sender and saw the name _**R.J Lupin**_ scribed on it. She smiled and proceeded to read the letter.

_**Harry,**_

_**First, I must say I'm still feeling proud you decided to stay at Hogwarts to finish your studies. How are things going around? How are Hermione, Ron and the others? I hope you haven't taken advantage for being one of the oldest and bully first and second graders like your father and Sirius sometimes did.**_

_**I can't wait for you to see Teddy, he has grown so much! Although I can't stay with him every day, his grandmother is taking excellent care of him. Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Fleur are also helping with as much as they can. I would think Dora would be very proud. **_

_**I can only say, things are not going so smoothly for me. Although I'm being paid for it, I'm not an official Auror, and you very well know why. Kingsley is trying to change the law, but not everybody feels safe with a wizard such as me to work at the Ministry. So they're keeping me in a low profile, giving me missions with only those Aurors in the Order. **_

_**Speaking of more serious things, I must say, Harry, although the war is over for the majority, there are still some pieces left. And some pieces aren't so small. It's not entirely safe for Muggle-Borns to go out there on their own, as you saw what happened 2 months ago, so keep Hermione safe the most. As Moody would say "Constant Vigilance!". We haven't catched all of the remaining Death Eaters who are still on the run, although we can be sure it's the minority, but the danger has not ceased. It's nothing too worrisome, but it's a fair warning to keep yourselves in awareness.**_

_**I'm planning to visit you on your next visit to Hogsmeade, there are a few things I must discuss with Professors McGonagall and Snape. It would also be an opportunity to see you all and see if we can introduce your friends to the Order.**_

_**Write me back as soon as you get this.**_

_**Remus**_

"I replied as soon as I got it," Harry said answering the question in Hermione's head before she could say it.

"When did you tell Remus to meet us?"

"Four past thirty, I told him we could meet in Three Broomsticks."

"Oh, I'll tell Draco then. Apparently I'm going to go ball gowns hunting with Ginny and Luna too."

"Then you're not coming…?" Harry said looking at her as if she really thought looking for dresses was more important than a meeting with Remus.

"We plan to go early! I thought you knew me better Harry. You guess I would like to go dress hunting the _whole_ day?" She said chuckling.

"By the way… who's Ron taking to the ball?" She asked nervously. "We're not entirely friendly yet you see… and I don't want him to get madder at me for going with Draco."

"Erm, I'm not entirely sure, he mentioned something about a 6th year Hufflepuff, but I wouldn't bet my life on that." He said and she nodded meekly.

* * *

Knocking on his office door twice, Hermione felt the palm of her hands sweating. Not a word had been passed through the wizards ever since the little note on the parchment, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. _Why must I bring my wand? _She wished the fears and assumptions that creeped down in her consciousness about what it was going to didn't come true.

Not a full minute had passed when the door of the office opened, revealing the bloodless face of her teacher.

Like the other times, he let her in without a word and she sat in one of his dining chairs, taking a cup of tea from the tray laying on the table. She looked at the biscuits on the plate and she guessed he didn't eat those either at breakfast time. House elfs would carry trays of food to the professors whenever they didn't feel like coming to the Great Hall and eat alongside everyone else. She guessed that must've been the case because Hermione had no memory whatsoever of seeing Professor Snape at breakfast or at lunch during her years at Hogwarts ever. She made a mental note about telling McGonagall about the house elfs later.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the only sounds were the ones of the clock and the sound of them taking in their tea. She didn't face him, but she could feel his intense stare almost burning her skin.

"Why was the need for me to bring my wand?" She broke the silence, unnerved by the quietness and the clock ticking.

"If you don't mind Miss Granger, I was hoping to do an experiment of sorts." He said placing his words carefully.

"What type of experiment?" She said hoping she didn't reveal her fear in her words.

"I haven't taken the potion that will cease some of the veela magic in me, and I wanted to know how far can it go with me still being sane. I don't quite fancy being drugged all day you see, and although the veela blood in my system is enough not to let myself become sick of it, it is rather tiresome to brew the potion every day. I can only start to comprehend how Lupin must feel." He said, his eyes never leaving her "Besides that I also don't fancy the idea of plucking hairs from your head." Hermione felt her cheeks go pink. She knew he had been plucking hairs from her every now and then, he had mentioned something about a potion in their last meeting, although she never did realise exactly when did he do that.

"Oh. I… suppose it's going well until now?"

"I am still under the influence of the last brew I drank earlier, I can still feel it in my body, it is a matter of minutes for the full effect to go away." He said bitterly and until then she realised how far he was sitting from her. He wasn't facing her with his body and he looked to be searching for a distraction of sorts.

"I needed you to bring your wand in case anything perilous were to happen." He explained. "So all we need is to wait."

Talking to Snape, wasn't all that bad, Hermione thought. She found they had an utterly range of things in common. They both had a fascination to read, both were very powerful wizards, and although his appearance was almost always somber, Hermione thought she could see a tiny bit of himself in the dark mask he always wore.

She began to become aware of the change in his demeanor. He was starting to pause more often when he spoke, she could see he was getting close to her but not really. It looked as if his body was pulling him towards her, but his face and spirit wanted to be elsewhere. Hermione grasped her wand in her fingers and stared at her professor, nervous at the fact she didn't have a plan.

His breathing became shallower, and she could catch a glimpse of his eyes. Bright, metallic, black eyes she saw. The lights in the room began to flicker and when she saw his fist clenched, she knew it was raw magic of his, desperately trying not to snap.

"I-It's fine. You don't have to do this to yourself." She said raising her hand in his way. "L-Let me get you the p-potion! Where is it?" She said standing up and he weakly signaled her with his arm one of far end closets in the room. She walked across the room and began looking for anything that looked like a veela potion. She heard him say, "I-It's the blue flask…. In the little box in the second stand..of the shelf." As if he knew she was searching for something with the sign "VEELA POTION" somewhere in his office.

She opened one of the shelves and tried to ignore the smell coming from all the different vases and flasks there where. She finally found the little box he said there was and opened the lid, and indeed, a couple of containers, filled with a blue potion, sat. The liquid was shining, and it gave them the look of being a lightbulb. She took one of the flasks, and closed the lid -not before noticing, next to the flasks, a lock of curly hair the same colour as hers, neatly secured in a tiny, emerald green ribbon wrapped with a bow. She tried not to flinch at the sight and closed the lid quickly and went to her teacher to give him the potion.

"Here, take it." She said stepping closer to him and saw he was clasping his knees with both of his hands now. "I-I don't believe suffering is necessary for you." She said getting even closer and extended her arm to him. But instead of grabbing the flask in her hand, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her to him. She gasped, and the movement caused her to drop the flask and it crashed into the floor, breaking into millions of pieces.

He stood up and pinned her to the closest wall, burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent and he purred.

She was too stunned to do anything and saw she had left her wand at the table _How can you have left your wand?_ She mentally cursed herself.

She felt his hot breath against her skin and she couldn't help shiver. _Is… is he purring?_

"Mate… my mate…mine…_Hermione_." He whispered in her ear and all of her senses betrayed her, making her all wobbly. Her visions became blurry, she smelled nothing but exhilarating sugariness in the air, her legs stopped working, and if it weren't for Snape holding her, she would have slumped down to the floor. He began tracing her lips with a thumb and Hermione closed her eyes and tried to shut down everything and everyone surrounding her. She didn't know if she was feeling guilty she was the source of his professor's actions, or the fact she was feeling ashamed she liked his touch. _It's only magic, no emotions, just hormones acting on themselves, just that… _

He lingered his lips on her skin and delicately kissed her jawline as if she would break and he faced her, his obsidian eyes infiltrating and consuming in her brown ones. His nose brushed against hers and she couldn't help let out a gasp, his thumb leaving her lips and grazed her cheek.

She could almost feel her lips touching with his and she didn't know if she liked it or not. _Just magic… hormones…. Not his real self….! _The moment was just too enticing for Hermione to think properly anymore, and she knew the intoxicating and sickly sweet scent were probably the pheromones. She was losing all sign of putting on a fight, and she knew she was this close at kissing her Potions professor. _Just… magic! _Hermione forced herself out the situation and weakly whispered with all her might, "P-Professor S-Snape…. We c-can't… Snape…" She said but found she couldn't even hear her words. "S-Snape, S… S-Severus!" She said at last, and she saw the sudden retract from her teacher at the sound of his first name. It had given her mere moments before she fell under his spell again. She quickly stepped out from him, took her wand, and walked at the entrance of his office, as far as she could get away from him.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking your flask. I'll make sure I'll get you a new one." She said barely catching her breath and opened his door. "T-Thank you f-for inviting me t-tonight." She stuttered quickly and left his office with her cheeks burning, heart racing and her hair messy.

* * *

December came as chilly as the last days of November, and they were getting shorter. One of the lasts rays of sunlight illuminated the castle as many students left for their visit towards Hogsmeade. Hermione couldn't help but shiver at the thought of not being entirely safe yet outside of the castle.

"Of course we'll be back before the meeting with Remus!" Ginny chanted as they made their way towards Hogsmeade.

"It's barely eleven o'clock, and I'm sure we'll be back at four. Besides, the stores are closing earlier, so we don't have much of a choice here."

They got close enough to HoneyDuckes and Hermione realised there weren't much clothing shops for formal dresses around the area. Not any she knew of.

"Uhm, Ginny, do you know any clothing shops close? I haven't visited the whole lot of Hogsmeade, but it doesn't look like there are any formal clothing shops around the corner… and Gladrags Wizardwaer doesn't seem like they sell ball gowns." She said trying to make memory if she ever saw one here.

"Of course there aren't! This is a small village! The stores here don't have anything good! No, we're going to Diagon Alley, Luna knows just the place." Ginny said grinning alongside Luna.

"You're kidding! We _can't_ leave Hogsmeade, it's in the rules."

"Ha! As if you haven't broken any! Don't be such a ninny and come here."

They apparated to Diagon Alley to one of the streets Hermione never knew about. It had few pedestrians in it, mostly women, and they reminded Hermione so much of how Mrs. Malfoy would dress. They stopped in front of a store named _"Fée Recherché" _and it looked like it's cheapest piece of clothing was worth at least one hundred galleons. She eyed the store skeptically and turned to see the grin on both Ginny and Luna's faces.

"My mum was friends with the owner, she used to come here all time when I was younger and since she died, the owner, Mrs. Flinggerspink, told me anytime I would shop here, she would leave it to me almost for free." She explained Hermione and she understood now why Ginny was so eager to come too."And I know no one knows us around the area, so we're safe here." Luna said smiling and Hermione felt relieved no one would know they were here, and she wouldn't have to spend all of her remaining galleons on a dress she would probably wear one night.

After countless hours of looking for the "perfect" dress, Ginny and Luna (mostly Ginny) found a dress that would suit Hermione the best. Not that she couldn't make her own choices, but she knew Ginny had a better fashion sense than her.

Luna chose a strapless pink gown and said (after they left the store) she would embellish it with golden sequins. Ginny's dress was longer than Luna's, choosing a more gothic style champagne tulle dress with black lace appliques on the top. Hermione's was a pinkish champagne dress, with a high necklace, and sheer back. The dress had many little white lace flowers, and the dress also ended with tulle. She had claimed they looked more like they were attending a wedding, but after further complaints on Ginny's part, she accepted and bought it.

They kept their dresses in a black material so it wouldn't be seen, and they put them inside of Hermione's charmed handbag and left for Three Broomsticks just in time for meeting Remus and the others.

Just as they entered, Hermione saw Draco enter and he greeted her with a chaste kiss before they found Harry, already sitting down with Ron, Remus and…. Snape. _Great, just great_ Hermione thought.

"Ah, Hermione!" Remus greeted her with a warm hug and she complied. "It's good to see you, Remus." He offered the witches some chairs for them to sit. They were in a secluded, isolated place of the pub so they wouldn't be heard.

"You just missed Minerva, she had to attend some affairs she left in the castle. Oh well, anybody fancy a butterbeer? My treat." Remus said smiling and all wizards present nodded affably.

After they all had a butterbeer in hand, and they had some chit-chat concerning the past events in their lives, they discussed some of the matters involving the threats about the remaining Death Eaters.

"You must all be careful. Especially you Hermione, you're the only Muggle-Born witch among us." He said and she saw Snape, visibly stiffening, but thanked nobody else saw it.

Remus gave some details about the Order to Ginny, Luna and Draco but wasn't specific because they weren't part of it yet. "We'll probably introduce you somewhere around the holidays, to have a chance of meeting everyone else."

He then told them, he needed a quick word with the ones who already were, and they left to a near table, for the exception of Draco, who whispered so only she could hear him "I'll wait for you in one of the benches outside, if I'm not there, I'll be in Tomes and Scrolls."

"We need to have constant patrolling here in Hogsmeade," Snape said after his dead silence since Hermione arrived. She could feel his stare straight over her, but she ignored it. She decided to look down at her almost empty jar of butterbeer instead.

"Severus, we're doing everything we can to do that. But you must understand, the Auror office is packed with work. Even I, who am not an official Auror, have a lot of work lately. But as long as it is daylight and students are together, I don't believe there is a reason for an attack." Snape sneered at him, but Hermione could detect there was more to it than just a reluctant agreement. "Besides, I don't believe there is an urgency concerning protection here in Hogsmeade. Many Muggle-Born students didn't come back this year because their parents are still afraid of their security after what happened. And I don't blame them. But as long as they're in groups they're safe here. In fact, not many students came back at all." Remus said, taking a long gulp from his butterbeer and placed his now-empty jar back on the table.

It looked like Snape wanted to say more, but decided against it. Although what Remus said made Hermione think. It was true, although still packed with students, the school was far emptier than any of her previous years in it. And not only because of the absense in Muggle-Borns, but Wizarding families that had gone into hiding or preferred their kids to go study abroad as well. She thought that was probably the reason there was enough room for all of the eight graders in the dorms.

The endless black eyes staring at her made her remember their last meeting, which ended quite abruptly, and also incidentally, where they almost kissed. Hermione squirmed slightly in her chair at the thought, remembering she hadn't felt uncomfortable by it and how, deep in herself, she didn't want it to end. _Stop! Just S-T-O-P! Magic! Remember, it's all the product of magic! _She looked up, and his eyes didn't leave her for a second. She blushed deeply and prayed no one noticed it, Remus was scribbling furiously on a parchment he told them he needed to send, Ron had gone up and asked for another butterbeer and Hermione's eyes landed momentarily on Harry. She saw he had looked at his professor and back at her, curiosity and something else on his face. _Shite!_ She quickly glanced at the window, with renewed interest, avoiding both wizards until the end of their meeting.

After their meeting with Remus, Snape reminded them they must return before dinner and leave, quicker than the others. Hermione also left the pub quickly, and desperately looked for Draco (who was probably now in Tomes and Scrolls), or for anything she could escape to, and then heard the voice of Harry calling her before she could be out of eyesight.

"Hey, 'Mione! May I have a word with you?"

_Oh, I just submerged myself in __grave__ problems!_

* * *

**A/N: Children like cookies as much as I like reviews, please do ;)**

**Hope to see you next week! **


	12. The ball

**A/N: Hallaou! I know I didn't upload on Wednesday because I wanted to dedicate a little bit more time on this chapter, you will all notice this is by far the longest one I've written, and although I tried to revise it deeply, this is very long indeed so some mistakes will undoubtedly pass unseen. So as usual I'll correct them. Oh, and please note I regard Neville with brown hair not blonde.**

** I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I do write it and please review any of your thoughts regarding it. **

**Thank you all for the reviews, continue reading and enjoy :)**

**_NOTICE!_ (dresses): I didn't think I would do it but meeeh, if you want to see how I pictured the dresses the girls will be wearing at the ball, go to my profile, there I've put the links to them.**

**;)**

* * *

Hermione was deliberately avoiding Harry. And he knew it.

After meeting with Remus, Hermione knew Harry thought there was something fishy, taking a peek at the awkward glances thrown at her by the sallow-looking wizard.

And she also knew her excuse of " He must probably have been worried about me being a Muggle-born. Harry, just because he's never shown it, doesn't mean he doesn't care about us!" hadn't bought Harry in the least. It was a pretty lousy excuse for someone who actually _didn't _care for them at all and acted on it openly. _Well, me being the exception of course…_

The next week passed as if she had used a time-turner over and over every single day like she did in her third year. Harry kept stealing glances at her and tried to ask her about it, but she squirmed her way out of every single attempt. She didn't want to raise any suspicion of anything happening between her and the Potions master. _Because there isn't anything!_ She thought, perhaps, if she avoided the topic in the whole, it would turn out it wasn't real at all, and it was only a very vivid and ghastly product of her imagination. Oh, how she wished she had such luck.

She thought about her "scandalous" life, as Parvati and Lavender would say if they were here, _How much gossip would they make out of my life if they were here? I don't know who was worse if Skeeter or them!_ She couldn't help her mind lingering a second more on Lavender. During and after the events in their sixth year, "friends" wasn't exactly a term Lavender nor she would have used for their relationship –but having shared a room for six years, certainly made them more than just acquaintances. She remembered with bitterness she had had the possibility of having the same grim fate as Lavender and shook her head, trying not to think about the bloodshed of the scene at the war and the hideous face of Fenrir Greyback.

On the other hand, Parvati must have probably (as most of her generation), left her studies to pursue a job. After the war, many working places (with the exception of St. Mungo's) had been accepting past students from her generation who didn't finish –because of the war– in time to do their N.E.W.T.s. It was primarily to help the economy that was threatening the English Wizarding community of falling into bankruptcy. Luckily, the foreign aid and many willing donors stopped this from happening, so seven months after the war, the Ministry was only a few thousand Galleons short in their budget, compared to the ludicrous amount it had been on May.

_Now thinking about Parvati, I believe I have seen Padma sitting at the Ravenclaw table a few times this term. Maybe her parents did let her continue study in Hogwarts after all,_ Hermione wondered as she made her way towards the library.

She closed her mind away from all the gossip emerging these past months concerning her personal life and focused it on something very important. Her N.E.W.T.s. They were barely six months away, and Hermione couldn't find the enough time to study all of her subjects thoroughly.

Having pushed away all concerns about blond wizards and Veelas, she fixed her mind in her Charms essay due in three days. _It's not going to do it by itself!_

After finishing the Flitwick's essay on the principle of the Protean Charm (known by heart), McGonagall and Sprout's homework, and advancing the reading of Snape's class, Hermione's eyelids became heavier, and the metaphysical properties of Felix Felicis became blurry. She could do the essay for D.A.D.A's class tomorrow. Their new professor, Dante Kipling, wasn't exactly what you could call courageous, and he wasn't very strict for that matter.

Just before she could give in and slump in the pile of books in front of her, she saw a flash of bright, red hair passing one of the bookshelves, and she jerked up her head hastily from her desk. _Ron? _

She followed the lanky wizard and peered through one bookshelf and to her surprise, saw he was sitting reading a book.

"Ron?" She asked, and he looked up, his pale blue eyes widening at her sight.

"Uhm –hey Hermione…" He said, and his view turned towards his book again, ignoring the brunette witch watching him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked before she could stop herself. Regret came soon after, for Ron's ears turned pink, and he looked at her with reproachful eyes.

"Why? Can't _I_ come to the library? Ron Weasley is so dimwitted he can't come and study in the library? Is that why you ask?" He flared, standing up. Hermione blushed, and with a slow "Shhh!" she tried to calm down the famous Weasley temper before Mdme. Pince kicked them out from the library.

"Ron, please! Keep it quiet or else we'll both be thrown out!" She pleaded, and he said nothing, but the purplish tone in his cheeks told her he wasn't calm at all.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry," She said, and she could see his shoulders relaxing a bit "I was just surprised, that's all. Ever since I know you, you were never really keen on coming here. In fact, I believe you would avoid coming if it were possible."

"Yeah well, I s'pose that's true," Ron said, visibly calmer than his previous outburst.

"So… why did you come here?" Hermione said after some uncomfortable silence, trying to make casual conversation.

"Homework. You see, now that we're not together I can't ask you to help me with schoolwork. And Harry is not that big of a help either… so here I am."

"Oh." She cracked in a small voice. "I won't keep you then –the Charms essay is quite easy though." She said and turned to retrieve her stuff from her table.

"Hey, Hermione!"

"Yes?" Hermione turned her head, hoping the endless silent treatment between them would end at last.

"I heard you're going with Malfoy to the dance."

"Oh," She said, mildly disappointed "well, yes. Yes, I am." She nodded her head a bit.

"Should've known you would choose the git." He muttered, the scowl returning.

"Oh, Ronald _please_!" She hissed, getting angry "It's been three months since we broke up! Three! I believe I need no permission nor judgement from anyone about my decision concerning who my dance partner is!" She said at last and stormed off the library, books in her arms, before Mdme. Pince could scold her.

She was half way through the fourth-floor corridor when she heard Ron's yellings calling her.

"Hey, Hermione! Hermione! 'MIONE!" He called at last, and she turned at the sound of the nickname both Harry and Ron gave her. It wasn't the best of nicknames, to Hermione's opinion.

"What is it, Ron? If you came here to continue trash-talk about Draco, I won't listen! I'm sick and tired of trying to talk to you! But I don't know if you're that thick or –don't interrupt me– or if you really want our relationship strained! If you ever want our relationship to improve you need to understand Draco and I come like in a package deal!" She said finally snapping. She felt something lifting from her shoulders and chest, an invisible weight that only kept pulling her downwards finally leaving her body.

"I came to say I was sorry about what I said to him. But wait –what do you mean about a package deal? Do you mean you and Malfoy…?" Ron said and Hermione turned pink.

"I… I…" She was at lost of words. _No time for funny business anymore Hermione, better tell him the truth. _"No. Draco and I are not in a relationship if that was what you wanted to ask. But I can't deny the emotional attachment we have is greatly profound." She said. _I can't understand why didn't I say this to him before? It wasn't so bad was it?_

She saw a flash of emotions pass through Ron's eyes, ending with uncertainty. She placed her words carefully before speaking,

"I never cheated on you, Ron." _Not physically at least_, She said half saying the truth. She felt guilty what she said wasn't exactly truthful, given that emotionally, her heart was already with Draco way before they broke up. And physically, she actually thanked Snape from interrupting her almost kiss with Draco. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any excuses for being a cheater. _Although I know I'm already one, but I couldn't exactly help my emotions back then._

Ron's face was washed from the pink tone residing on him and he seemed more relaxed.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

"It's okay."

"It's just… I can't help it!" Ron said, breaking the silence residing in them. "I guess it's partially jealousy what's been keeping me from talking to you. Ever since you became friends with the g –I mean Malfoy, I guess I've been jealous. Jealous of the chemistry you two obviously displayed. Jealous of the way your minds clicked in classes and how easily you two could work together without any mistakes. Jealous of how effortless you looked talking to him over topics neither Harry nor I would've understood. Harry suspected sooner or later you would be going out with each other, and I denied it. I tried dating Lavender–" Ron stopped, still dismayed about her fate before continuing "–and it was great for a time… my intentions were mildly biased with the fact I wanted to make you jealous, I admit it. I'm not proud of it. But then… I saw how happy you looked all of a sudden, and it didn't take me long to realise how much more time you were spending with Malfoy.

"And even though I was dating Lavender I realised how much I cared for you. I tried telling myself it was because she didn't make me happy. And well, I finally broke up with her. And I was still as miserable. I was your friend again, and it made me happy, but I couldn't help feeling angry and gloomy at the same time because you seemed happier with him. I don't really know what happened between you both at that time and I honestly don't want to know. But I do remember the dancing monkey inside of me when you found out he was a Death Eater. I know, I know I should've felt sadder at the fact Dumbledore died… but deep within myself I though "I finally may have a chance!" And when you kissed me I was the happiest man alive! Everything was going right.

And then you came, on May 5th –if I can still recall– you came and told me you became friendly with Malfoy again…"

_**May 5**__**th**__**, 1998**_

Ron was standing in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, helping Harry and Hermione cleaning the place; they decided to live in it, for they were both pretty much homeless. After countless and unsuccessful attempts Mrs. Weasley did trying to convince both to come and live at the Burrow in the time they would look for a _proper _place to live (Grimmauld Place wasn't in her top 10 dream houses), very politely both rejected the offer stating it was a very good opportunity for independence. Although back in 1995-1996, they had done a lot of house cleaning, the place still looked filthy and crammed with useless (and potentially cursed) stuff.

Bill offered to come later and help remove some of the worst portraits in the place, Mrs. Black's being one of them, and clean up some areas around that might have a curse in them. And Mrs. Weasley promised them she will stop by to bring sandwiches for lunch, and help them too with the cleaning.

Harry was in Sirius room, having claimed it as his own, probably looking for useful or significant things inside of it, meanwhile Ron, was cleaning up all of the mold and dirtiness accumulated behind the counters and shelves in the kitchen. Crookshanks decided to leave him some time after his futile attempts at catching Ron's attention. He heard a slight crack from behind him and he turned, facing a beaming Hermione just arriving from Hogwarts.

"I'm going to miss disapparating from Hogwarts once Minerva places the jinx on the castle again." She muttered to herself.

"Oy! You returned!" He said and proceeded to kiss her in a welcoming manner.

"How was your meeting with McGonagall? You sure seem happy." He commented after she placed her purple beaded handbag and jacket on the kitchen table.

"Yes well," She said with slightly ragged breath "It wasn't bad. People are already cleaning up the castle and I told her we would help with whatever we could, starting next week." She said and Ron groaned, tired already from cleaning moldy walls. _Now we'll have to clean up rocks and stuff of the castle!_

"Ron, as Hogwarts' students and good civilians, we must go and help! It was practically our home for six years!" She said as if reading his thoughts.

"But we're not Hogwarts' students anymore…"

"Exactly the point I wanted to reach. I'm returning to finish my N.E.W.T.s next year." She told him flatly. "Minerva and I discussed how well it would do to both Harry and you to return and finish school too."

"But 'Mione! Kingsley has already assured both Harry and me a post in the Auror Office!"

"Ron _I know._ But having your N.E.W.T.s won't do any harm would it? I bet Harry wouldn't mind returning to Hogwarts –I mean, Ginny will be there and all. Besides, if you want to work outside of the Ministry or in another country, I doubt having no N.E.W.T.s will do much help. Just think about it, Ron." She said rubbing his arm, the smile placed on her lips since she arrived, never fading.

"I can't believe returning to school makes you happy." He said laughing in disbelief pointing at her very happy demeanor she was still expressing.

"Oh, _that_." She said laughing somewhat nervously "Well, it wasn't precisely that what has kept me in high spirits." She said blushing in a light shade of pink.

"We talked about what is going to happen; Minerva is going to take place and be headmistress, along with Professor Snape, once he's out from St. Mungo's that is. Anyways, at the end of our meeting, Minerva commented to me, she has decided to name me Head Girl. Seeing there are few seventh graders and I want to return to the school, she told me she saw no one better to have the position." She said smiling. "And well… I ran into Malfoy too."

"And what did the twat wanted? Did he do anything to you 'Mione? Because if the git did…" Ron said, getting angry.

"Oh no! No no no, nothing of the sort! Remember he defected Voldemort! Besides, the war is over so there are no more enemies." She said frowning at Ron.

"You can't never be too sure 'bout that! I wouldn't mind never seeing his pointy pale face anymore in my life!"

"Actually… we're friends again." She said in a small voice, but nevertheless beaming again and all of Ron's insides froze. _Friends? As in… the way they were "friends" in sixth grade?! _Ron thought and began to panic.

"You see, when I was on my way out I found him cleaning up some rocks with I believe was Zabini? Anyways, he approached me and asked if we could talk and well… Apparently he was sort of blackmailed into becoming a Death Eater, it was more like he was under the Imperius curse actually… As I was saying, yes, he never wanted to become one, the night Dumbledore died he was taken back to his house and while he was restrained there, other Death Eater took his place with the Polyjuice potion. Long story short, we decided to forget everything bad that happened between us and start fresh. Oh! He also told me Minerva has decided to name him Head Boy! Strange how things turn out huh?" She said taking a glass from the cupboard, filled it with water and drank it.

"Yes, _very _strange." Said Ron not really paying attention to what Hermione had said after the words came out of her lips saying, "Malfoy and I are friends again…"

_**December 1998**_

After Ron's long story and explanation of the why of his actions, Hermione stood in front of him, unfazed. She did what seemed more natural to her and hugged him with all her might. Taken aback, he returned the hug sometime after, and she knew they were best friends again. She felt hot tears threatening her eyes _I'm glad I have Ron back _but decided against them.

"Ron, thank you for being my friend, my brother."

She looked up to him and he smiled.

* * *

Having become friendly again with Ron kept Hermione in a more cheerful mood than any other of the previous days. The Christmas spirit brought, yet again, a sense of relief and joy within the Wizarding community, that had been absent the previous year at the cost of the emerging war.

Something Hermione also felt different within herself was the way she started looking at Draco. Sure enough, having resolved things with Ron lifted a weight on Hermione she didn't know she had. It was definitely easier walking hand-in-hand with Draco as well as she didn't have that pricking feeling in the back of her head he would spot them and berate how much she betrayed him. Of course, she still had the same feeling about Snape, but it was definitely easier to escape away from his sight than Ron's. He wasn't a student so he didn't attend almost every class alongside them.

As Ron seemingly was a tad more relaxed when he was with Hermione, she could see the fading scowl forming on his face when she and Draco were together. Although it bothered her, she had to accept it was a major improvement from the silent treatment they were in mere days before.

Kisses became more heated, physical contact became more prominent and Hermione couldn't help the sudden shiver that went down her spine every time her bare skin touched his. They were in their last week before holidays, and while almost everybody was buzzing over the ball, Hermione found the spare time in her shared classes with Draco not to study, but to glance dreamily at him. In almost every class they were reviewing everything they had seen, so for the first time in her life, Hermione sacrificed her spare time glancing at a boy instead of reading_. I'm becoming daft_ she thought at how silly and girly she must've looked, waiting for the time Draco to take a peek at her.

Surely enough, he did, and her stomach filled with millions of butterflies. It was a problem though, in their Potions class, when Snape eyed her suspiciously as she accidentally added more Wiggentree twigs into her Love Potion Antidote, making its contents bright red instead of purple. It was the very first time she had messed up this bad in Potions, and although Snape hadn't spoken a single word to her after their disastrous meeting, he eyed her with suspicion and his eyes flashed towards Draco before returning to her. She said nothing while looking down, and proceeded to start again, thanking she still had more than half of the class to do it.

"Granger, if you don't stop _ogling_ at me, as you say, in class, I might just surpass you in being the best of the class." Draco said, catching up with her after potions, surprising her with taking her hand in his, and flashed a white smile at her when she looked up.

Hermione turned scarlet and shook her head. "I-I wasn't! Must be your imagination!" She said waving her hand in the air. "I was merely checking if anyone needed help, and I accidentally slipped more twigs. That's all." She knew this hadn't convinced him in the least and she decided to look at the window with its frosty glass instead.

She knew he was as covetous of her as she was of him, and she also knew how flushed and hot her cheeks felt every night when she went to bed after the burning and fierce kisses she would get from saying good night to the Head Boy. It became kind of like a ritual to her, and before she went to sleep, she unconsciously touched her lips, she could still taste and feel the heavy and velvety lips of Draco.

"Hey Granger," Draco snapped her out of her thoughts concerning her last dream, involving a white dragon, rescuing her from black and enormous claws.

"Hmm?"

"As my best friend, I want you to accompany me to the Room of Requirements tonight, after dinner." He said without giving further explanation.

"I thought it was destroyed when Crabbe–" "Yes, well something like that. If you're looking to hide something, it will present itself as the room where he unleashed the Fiendfyre, and everything will be burned. But, being a magical room, it should be fine if you're looking for something else. Blaise and I made sure of that." He added after seeing the disbelief on Hermione's face.

"Well then, being your best friend, I don't see a reason not to." Hermione said with a broad smile.

It wasn't until she began walking the corridor of the seventh floor that Hermione began thinking about her visit to the Room of Requirements. She didn't know what she was going to see, nor the time they would spend there, she certainly didn't want to be later than curfew.

She reached the stone wall were the room magically presents to the wizard and saw Draco was already waiting for her.

"Don't look so pale Granger, I promise we won't use a great deal of dark magic. Just a tad." He joked and without a word, the heavy wooden doors appeared, unaffected by the massive fire they had closed the last time she was there.

"After you, my lady." He said and moved his hand in a gesture indicating her enter first.

She looked at the inside of the room and she gaped at it with a feeling of awe. She knew the room had the magic to transform itself into anything you needed, but she didn't know it had such powerful magic in it. The Room had magically transformed in an endless prairie, with ponds of crystal water reflecting perfectly the clouds, emerald green grass with diamond-like dew on it, and everywhere she looked she could see spots of rainbow on the grass, only then realising they were flowers of multiple species and colors. What most impressed her, was the sky. It had the colors lavender and midnight blue meshed, its clouds looking from white to pink, and it was full of stars.

Draco led her into a Willow tree, and behind its enormous curtains with leaves which reached the ground, she found big cushions and pillows resting on the grass.

They lay on the pillows and with a swift movement of his wand and a non-verbal spell, the massive curtains of the Willow tree opened and they could see the sky, glittering with glossy starts.

"This is so beautiful… Draco… thank you for bringing me here. I didn't know such place could exist." Hermione said after some comfortable silence between them and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I used to come here in our sixth grade–" He explained. "–when… I couldn't think of repairing the Vanishing Cabinet any more. I came here and hoped to get lost forever in the beauty of this room. I wanted to get away from it. And when I couldn't be with you, I came here and found peace within these endless walls." He reached for her hand and he brought it to the level of his face, his lips brushing her skin and she closed her eyes.

"I don't know if your levels of cloying increased, but I appreciate very much the fact you took me here." He laughed and he playfully bit her hand before placing a soft kiss there and she shivered.

It was the same feeling she had days before when she stared at him in their common room watching how he did his Charms essay. The same feeling she felt whenever he kissed or snogged her… _Could it be?_

"Yes." She said without thinking.

"Hmm?" Draco said startled with her sudden response.

"I'm responding to the question you've been asking me almost every day since September. Yes." She said with more determination and looked straight into his-almost-grey eyes.

"You mean–," He said cupping her face with his long pale fingers and she nodded, blushing slightly.

He cleared his throat "Hermione, will you be my girlfr–" he was muffled by her lips crashing into his and Draco couldn't be happier in his whole life.

"My _girlfriend_." He whispered into her ear before snogging her like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

It was the day of the ball and Blaise Zabini couldn't be more nervous in his whole life. He was happy, of course, of bringing Luna with him to the ball, but couldn't help his stomach doing flip backs at the last letter his mother had sent him.

_**I was most pleased to hear you'd already found a partner for the ball. I was on the brink of asking the Greengrasses to arrange you to escort your dear classmate, Daphne or her sister, Astoria. Nevertheless, having myself an appointment with your new Dark Arts teacher the very same day of your ball, I certainly guess we'll meet. I am rather excited to meet this Lovegood girl you say. And I'm also hoping you made the right decision and that she is as **__**pure**__** as we both are Blaise. I'm also pleased to announce your sister sends her regards from Italy….**_

And the letter continued on and on… Blaise re-read the long letter and felt the back of his hands sweating. He knew Luna was as pure-blooded as he knew the sky was blue, but he wasn't so sure his mother would be appreciative with her peculiarities nor with the fact her father owns _The Quibbler_. As much as Draco's prejudices towards Muggle-Borns and such lessened after the war, so did Blaise's. But he knew for a fact his mother's hadn't. So the idea of introducing a potential girlfriend who wasn't only eccentric, but also a blood traitor to his mother's eyes, didn't appeal to him much.

It was the third time he rearranged his tie in front of the mirror and this seemed to unnerve Draco, for he slapped his hand away when he tried to get rid of the non-existent wrinkles it had. They were in the dungeons, in the dorms of the "eight graders" in Slytherin the school provided, not that they would be short of them; after the war, Slytherin was the house with fewer students . They had agreed they would change there; Blaise only had two more other room-mates, so they had two permanent spare beds, making the room very spacious. And Hermione had asked Draco if she and her friends could use the whole of the Head dorms.

He'd joked Draco was being "henpecked" by Hermione and he looked he was enjoying it very much before he threw a hex at him.

"Don't be a nag, Blaise," Draco said peeking one last time at the mirror. "Granger didn't order me to do anything. I know how much girls take their time and such, so I guessed it wasn't a bad idea –what?" He looked up to see Blaise sniggering.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just happy to see how much your _girlfriend_ means to you."

"Shove it Zabini, you won't be so brave yourself when your dear mother meets _your_ date tonight, now will you Blaise?" He said in a mocking manner and Blaise scowled.

"Oh fuck off." Said Blaise at last, throwing a dirty sock at Draco's way and smirked when it almost landed on his face.

"Hey!"

They finished grooming themselves, Draco opted for black, elegant robes which make him look gallant and older. And Blaise's clothes resembled Draco's in elegance, but he chose a dark, purple colour instead accentuating his dark skin.

"C'mon, we better hurry or else…" He said and they made their way towards the Great Hall.

* * *

"You're making this bigger than it is!" Hermione argued with Ginny, pointing at her whole reflection, meanwhile the redhead tried to place a silver and glittery clasp in her updo, letting some curls fall at her sides.

"Rubbish! You're going to gleam in the Great Hall tonight with how breathtaking I made you look. Now, if you stop complaining and moving I would have finished ages ago!" Ginny said, putting in place a few curls with her wand that went stray when she put the silver clasp.

"Why couldn't you just iron my hair like yours?" She said at the sleek, glossy and long flaming red hair falling in waterfalls from Ginny's head. "Not that your hair wasn't already _straight_." She muttered the last to herself.

"Iron my hair? What?"

"Oh, nevermind. There's a tool Muggles use with heat to make their hair straight or curled." Hermione explained and Ginny's face contorted in a sickening way.

"I wouldn't like to burn my hair to make it curled! Poor Muggles, they can't enjoy the wonders of magic. Besides, I like my hair the wait it is, so no need for that too." She said applying a folly red lipstick.

"Luna you ready?" Ginny called and Luna came out from the bathroom, in her pink customized gown wearing curls in a half ponytail style.

"Yes. Hermione I left some mistletoe in your bathroom, I believe I sensed some nargles near your tub." Lunas expression was so serious, Hermione didn't even attempt to contradict her.

Walking down to the Great Hall alongside Ginny and Luna, Hermione didn't feel as much as in a corny, fluffy fairytale anymore. And she was glad for it. Anyone they passed was dressed in a fashion much like they were, and Hermione was relieved when she saw girls with dresses much more princess-like than the one she wore.

They reached the Great Hall and just before it's doors opened, everybody was waiting anxiously outside with hungry eyes to shine once inside of it. They found Harry near one of the walls and approached him.

Ginny half skipped her way where Harry was and practically flew into his arms. "Harry!"

"Ginny! You look…" And he stopped, his green eyes engulfing the whole of her attire. He looked up to her eyes and she beamed at him, kissing him softly on his left cheek.

"…Beautiful." He finished, putting his arm around her back. Hermione and Luna catching up with them short after.

"You look beautiful too," Harry said after they arrived. "Your hair looks nice 'Mione." Harry chuckled.

"_Your_ girlfriend not only put an enormous amount of Sleekeazy's potion in it but also charmed it and I had to stay still for almost 2 hours!" Hermione moaned pointing at Ginny.

"Hey! It was all for a good cause wasn't it? It is all part of the charm." She smirked.

"Where is Ron by the way? Wasn't he with you Harry?" Hermione remembered the missing flaming red hair.

"Uhm –he was, but I believe he went looking for his date. Speaking of which, where are your dates?" He said signaling both Hermione and Luna.

"Now that you mention it–" But Hermione couldn't finish when she felt long, elegant fingers over her eyes and she turned, only to meet with his eyes.

"There, now you've found your _boyfriend_," Draco smirked before his icy blue eyes became engrossed in her.

"B-Boyfriend? Malfoy is _your_ boyfriend?" Harry shrieked. He was the only one in their conversation who had a shocked and appalled look on his face. Ginny, Blaise (who arrived alongside Draco), and Luna merely looked at the pair with knowing eyes.

"Yes, Potter I'm her boyfriend. Now, could shut your stuttering, please? I would like to tell my _girlfriend_ how dazzling and enticing she looks tonight." He said, never leaving Hermione's eyes and placed a soft kiss on her left hand. Hermione's cheeks matched the color of her dress at how chivalrous Draco was being, and the fact she had four pairs of eyes looking at them.

"We must approach the doors, for they're on the brink of opening. I believe we had caused too much embarrassment for Hermione already." Luna said bluntly and it only made Hermione blush a deeper shade of pink. She took Draco's offering arm, and like the many other students, entered the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was decorated almost identically to the way they had in the Yule Ball four years ago. The walls and the floor were all icy white, there were tables with black, red and silver tablecloths with silver and white plates on them. The tables were placed around the corners, leaving ample space for students to dance, there was also a table with many appetizers and there was a small glass fountain with a red plum punch in it.

Hermione noted the ceiling was different from last time, it seemed endless with a foggy white view, and it was enchanted so it looked like it was snowing. The other big difference catching her eye was that the ball was only comprised of Hogwarts' students and staff. Hermione certainly missed the lovely view of fellow students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons mixing themselves with everybody, but felt happy anyways with the fact even the youngest students were able to enjoy the night.

Hermione and Draco made their way, along with Blaise and Luna, to one of the tables, Draco silently thanking they were the only ones seating in there. Many regarded the strange combination of houses, sitting as couples in a single table, in an odd way, so aside from Harry and Ginny, they didn't have to talk to many people. _Maybe not many people would think to approach us, but that doesn't stop them from whispering behind our backs!_ Hermione thought furiously as she turned her head and found a couple of Ravenclaw girls blushing at her sight and abruptly turned their heads away.

"Blaise you seem nervous, is something bothering you?" Hermione commented, looking at Blaise, who wouldn't stop looking at the Great Hall doors and was fidgeting his fork between his hands unconsciously.

"I've already asked him, but he won't tell. I'm suspicious though, there might be someone coming he doesn't want to greet." Luna said to Hermione. Meanwhile, Blaise looked distracted enough to have listened to a word she said.

"You might be downright correct Luna." Draco said sitting himself at the side of Hermione, placing a cup with a reddish drink in it in front of her, Luna and Blaise with his wand. "Cheers." He said and they clanked their goblets and drank from them, Luna giving a nudge in the ribs at Blaise, snapping him out of his trance and he proceeded to drink too.

"Draco is this Sherry?" Hermione said horrified after she gave her drink a sip, motioning with her hand at Luna, to stop drinking hers too.

"Don't lose your knickers on that Granger, I was going to bring Firewhiskey, but it's far too early in the night for that just yet. Maybe in a couple of hours." He smirked, taking a sip from his cup.

"Not only are we head students, but we are in a _school_." She hissed at him in a disapproving way.

"As I said, don't fret. McGonagall approved this, everyone from seventeen and up can drink any beverage there is served. She jinxed all the spirits for anyone underage trying to drink them; it would taste like salty water to them. And I made sure to ask permission if _we_ could drink it, Granger. She said it was fine, as long as we keep ourselves decent and don't get drunk." He said before she could further complain. "Trelawney surely seemed euphoric when she saw the Sherry on the table." He added.

"Well, if McGonagall said it was fine, then I guess a little Sherry won't do any harm." She said with a small smile, tasting the vinous flavor from her goblet.

After some chatting and light drinking, the couples like many others stood up to dance on the "dance floor" now being filled with students and staff.

Hermione's actions became stiffer and stiffer as they got close to everybody else. She felt her heart hammering in her chest and her legs felt all wobbly. It was a form of dismay and panic she had never felt before. The faces of the students near her became blurry and all she could see was piercing obsidian eyes and a curtain of black hair. Her breathing became shallower and before she could faint Draco shook her.

"Granger what is it?" He asked her in concern and she looked at him with her doe-like eyes and slightly shook her head, all colour leaving her face.

Biting her trembling lip, she whispered so quietly only he could hear,

"I… I'm _scared_."

"Granger, don't be nervous. Just look at me and let go." He said grabbing her chin, and her brown eyes met his. A sudden warmth filled her and she felt the same feeling that had been occupying her heart for the last weeks. She shot him a reassuring smile, and they started to dance when the music started, her eyes never leaving his.

With his hand against her lower back, Hermione's stomach filled with butterflies and her cheeks reddened.

She found dancing with Draco was one of the few things made her jubilant. She didn't need to worry about anything or anyone, and she also found she wanted nothing more but to kiss his pale pink lips without caring if they were seen. Draco led the way, as she wasn't precisely an expertise at dancing, and being raised by a traditionalist pure-blooded family, Draco was taught how to dance the most proper and elegant dances there existed in the Wizarding world. His dance moves seemed effortless but firm. And while his eyes didn't leave hers for a second, he knew where exactly to move and he was careful not to bump into anyone else.

_Viktor's dance moves weren't bad, but I would prefer a million times better to dance with Draco instead of him_ she thought, her wide smile following for what was left of the dance, never leaving her lips.

The song finished and all of them stopped dancing, many couples retreating themselves to their respective tables. Before Hermione moved a muscle, Draco pulled her to him and planted a big fat kiss on her lips. She was surprised at the sudden move but returned his kiss briefly before ending it. There was too much fuzz and noise from the people to notice them, but they didn't get away without a few gasps and exclamations of surprise from the students nearest to them. Hermione didn't care if they saw, not even if Ron did, but she kept her head down with her cheeks burning as they went to their seats, not wanting her eyes to meet black, familiar, accusing ones.

Taking their places she saw Luna talking with a tall, round-faced brown haired guy in the seats next to her. "Neville!" She exclaimed and hugged him in a very tight hug. "In the six months, almost seven I haven't seen you, I can almost swear you grew half an inch!" She said looking at him. His hair was a little bit longer than she remembered it, and he was dressed in a very dark green robes that would pass as black, but in the light they had an emerald look in them.

"Actually I have! Gran took me shopping because all my pants were too short for me. She said she couldn't believe I'm still growing!"

"It's good to hear!"

From the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Blaise approach their table, worry all over his face, and judging by his demeanor Hermione could tell he was slightly intoxicated.

"Erm –Luna? There's someone I want you to meet…" He muttered to Luna and taking her hand, they walked away, Blaise not even minding Neville was seating at their table.

Hermione saw he took her at the other end of the Hall where a woman, looking around her mid-thirties and dressed in opulent and luxurious robes and jewelry, stood. Neville also followed the pair with his eyes and let out a sad sigh at the sight of their hands intertwined.

"I wouldn't let my hopes too high now, Longbottom." Draco said in a slight mocking tone, and giving Hermione, a chaste kiss, stood up towards the drink table.

"I… I..." Neville said, clearly bewildered not only at the sight of Luna with Blaise but also at Malfoy kissing Hermione, who was dating Ron. Or at least that was the last thing Neville new about them.

"Yeah, I… broke up with Ron in September." She explained to him, her cheeks burning a pink colour.

"And what about…?" He said, pointing at Luna and Blaise.

"Oh, I'm sorry Neville." She said patting his back lightly. "They're not dating though, but in the past months they have been quite close I believe." She said. She truly felt sorry for him, knowing how much he cared for Luna.

"It's fine I think. I believe she already knew our friendship was more valuable than what it may have been just a fling. Although I never pinned Zabini as someone to take interest in her to be honest."

"No one did. But you know what they say, opposites attract."

"Hey is that Professor Snape looking our way?" Neville suddenly said, and Hermione thought better than looking behind her back. "He doesn't seem happy at all…. Do you say it's because I didn't come for the first term? I was at Auror training, but I promised Kingsley I would return to do my N.E.W.T.s, McGonagall told me I could resume classes in January and–" "–Neville." Hermione interrupted. "I believe his sour mood is the consequence of the ball, now that he is a headmaster he must attend. He can't miss it like he did in the Yule Ball. And I also think he wouldn't like if you keep staring at him." She said softly, not daring to look behind her.

"Oh, I guess you're correct."

* * *

The night continued pleasantly enough for Hermione. Draco returned with more drinks, he brought her elf-wine while he drank Firewhiskey, and they continued to chat with Neville. Shortly after, Harry came with Ginny, both with smiles up to their ears and after some time, they saw Ron with a blond Hufflepuff girl at his side. He nodded curtly at Draco and greeted Hermione and Neville before leaving again.

Draco couldn't suppress his laughter at the sight of a smiling Luna and a very pale Blaise after what seemed forever.

"I need a drink." He said curtly and left for the drinking table before saying anything else.

"How did you find Mrs. Zabini?" Draco asked Luna, clearly amused by the situation.

"Oh, she was quite alright. At first she acted rudely because of my father owning _The Quibbler,_ and the fact I mentioned I sensed there were wrackspurts around her earrings, but then softened at the fact she told me I must be unique enough to make Blaise drunk because of nervousness of me meeting her." She said happily.

Further into the night, McGonallag called Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the front of the Hall and gave a little speech about how this couldn't be possible if there weren't for them. And of course, also thanked everybody who'd helped and after a sniff or two, announced the staff would be very happy to have a dance with the students, honoring the loyalty the school had with fellow wizards.

"I believe it's time for our Student-Professor dance. Every single dance Hogwarts has had in history, we have celebrated this dance. And tonight will be no exception." And without further explanation, she motioned the staff to pick a student. She practically shoved Ron towards Professor Sprout and Hermione to _this can't be_ Professor Snape, as she motioned Harry to dance with her.

Before Hermione had time to register what was happening, couples emerged once again to the dance floor and each teacher seemed to have found a student to dance as well. _I just hope Draco doesn't make a scene out of this._

"I would believe not dancing at this precise moment would be inappropriate don't you think _Miss Granger_?" Snape said coldly as Hermione finally looked at him, too stunned to realise the music had already started. She returned to her senses and quickly nodded taking his hand in hers, beginning the dance.

Dancing with Snape was very different from Draco. At first it seemed almost awkward the way he was guiding her along the Hall, but as soon as he became acquaintanced with her moves, his confidence took over and he began to dance more adamantly and with precision. She realised his hand was barely touching her, and in contrast with Draco's hand on her lower back, Snape's was in her mid back. He looked very uncomfortable with it, and Hermione mentally agreed she too, preferred not to have this imperative dance.

"You seemed far too happy tonight with Mr. Malfoy " He commented with a snide reproach.

"Yes, as I matter of fact I was." She said acidly trying to ignore the pain in her hand caused by the sudden tightening of his.

"I see. Our _meetings_ that we've been having are to cease I presume?"

"The meetings we've been having have nothing to do with my interpersonal relationships!" She hissed at him. "And you very well know that! I told you before the first one."

"You look very lovely tonight if I must say." He changed the topic taking her by surprise.

"I… Thank you. You look rather nice too." She said blushing, trying not to look at his piercing eyes.

They danced for what was left of the song in silence, but Hermione noted his movements were softer and he seemed more relaxed. She didn't know when, but there was a point in the dance where she felt as if they were the only two people dancing in the immense Hall. She dared to look up and when her eyes met his, she realised she felt the same shivers she'd felt at the Quidditch match when she couldn't take her eyes away from his. The same thing happened to her tonight.

She didn't notice when the dance had finished, for she accidentally bumped into a girl at her side. With a very stiff and polite "Thank you for this dance." She hastily returned to her table and hoped she didn't have to encounter Snape for what was left on the night. But couldn't help the lingering feeling in her stomach she felt; it was a mixture of uneasiness and longing for the dance to have continued on and on…

To her good luck, hours passed and she was feeling happy again in the company of Draco and the others. She didn't see Ron again and Neville left shortly after midnight, along with the youngest students, meanwhile Blaise left almost at one, claiming he better return to his dorms before his mother or any of the staff saw him drunk. He kissed tenderly Luna and walked away, in a somewhat zigzag way.

Hermione had already danced until her feet had claimed defeat and preferred to sit back and talk with Draco and Luna. The Great Hall was almost empty by then, some of the teachers remaining (she didn't want to see who was left), and there were some couples slow dancing on the Hall. Harry and Ginny were one of those, completely besotted with each other, and much like chewing gum, they were dancing so closely you couldn't see the line dividing them.

At two o'clock in the morning, just before Hermione decided to go and get some sleep, there was a loud noise and a yelp coming from the outside. The few students and staff remaining hurriedly left to the windows in the Great Hall to see some of the trees in the Forbidden Forest were clearly crooked and some birds fleeing the scene. It was very dark on the outside, but the form of the trees was so twisted, it was impossible no to see them.

McGonagall instructed Professor Flitwick to escort the few students remaining back to their dorms as she, Hagrid, Snape, Draco, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Luna made their way to the forest.

One of the things Hermione didn't think before going to the outside was casting a warmth charm. She met the outside of the grounds of the school with an icy and freezing breeze, and noted she hadn't been the only one who clearly forgot the glacial weather, being in the warmth of the Great Hall. Quickly casting one, they followed the trail where they had heard the yelp and found the big hole in the forbidden forest, with the crooked trees at its sides.

Enormous feet emerged and soon they were all facing Hagrid's half-brother, Grawp. Getting closer to him they saw the blotches on his feet and the hole underneath him, and Hermione could decipher the yelp was because most probably, Grawp had slipped and fell, forming a hole in the ground.

"Oy Grawp! What are ye doin' down here? S'all my fault Minerva –I knew the cave was freezing, even for Grawp. I'll take 'em to the spot 'e used to be for the rest o' the winter, And then he'll return to 'is cave." He said reassuringly walking away with Grawp and McGonagall sighed in an annoyed way, clearly displeased to be out of the warmth of the castle for nothing dangerous.

"Very well, I advise you all to return to your dorms, I wouldn't like anyone of you to end with a cold. And watch your step, even though there is snow, it is very slippery." She said and quickly returned to the castle.

They started walking out from the edge of the forest before it started snowing again, forgetting the pale black-haired wizard who walked close to them. Paying more attention to the cold, the snow and mud made Hermione trip over her dress and she fell into the hole once occupied by Grawp.

Letting out an involuntary gasp, she realised her dress had torn off in her neck by a nearby twig. Before she could stand, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap her from behind and looking up and she saw a pair of bright metallic eyes watching over her with his pale skin turning a shade of faint grey. She felt droplets of blood falling from her neck and she could almost see his eyes widening. _I must have scratched myself with the damn twig._

She barely registered Ginny and Draco's exclamations "Hermione! Are you alright?" when she felt an overpowering and intoxicating smell all over the place. And before Draco could reach to her, she felt sharp, stinging fangs biting her neck.

* * *

**A/N: Good lord I do _love_ cliffhangers don't I? Guys, please review if you liked/hated it! Hope to see you next week ;)**


	13. A Love Bite

**A/N: Hey, I'm sorry I didn't upload past week, I couldn't. Mostly because last week I had lots of stuff to do, I wasn't in my house (ma computer) for four days so I couldn't write and so. My updates won't be a one-week strict form now on. What I mean with this is, I may upload a few days later or less than my last update, depending on how's the chapter going. But it won't take more than 2 weeks for an update I promise. This chapter is an emotional one, and the hardest for me to write yet. **

**Like my mood right now, this chapter is not a happy chapter, and since I didn't want to delay the update more, this may have a fair amount of mistakes I'll correct in these days. **

**P.S. From this chapter on I think, things will start getting angsty. From what I have in mind for this story, it is going to be a long one. So I'm hoping that this isn't even half of it yet. I'm sorry I didn't include too much Draco in this chapter, but I felt there needed to be some Harry/Hermione bonding (like brother and sister), but next chapter it'll be all about Draco. Oh, and I didn't kill Hedwig :D**

**Thank you all for your reviews and support**

**Please enjoy, keep reading and review :)**

* * *

It was the most pleasurable pain she's ever felt. Peacefulness, lust, happiness, uncertainty. All these feelings and something more she didn't know, hammered inside of her as soon as the razor-sharp fangs pierced her skin.

Her mind and body didn't let her concentrate on just one, there were far too many emotions and feelings for her to think correctly. It was crushing her. Her breathing became shallower, her sight deceived her; she could only see blurring spots and the whiteness of the snow at the beginning of the forest. Her hearing and smell sharpened, and she was stunned by the noise level in her surroundings. Meanwhile, she now smelled the fresh, moldy, organic scent of the pine trees and the musky scent of the pheromones now in charge of calming her senses. It was all too much for her to bear.

At first, she had felt pain because of the bite actually piercing and entering her flesh. She flinched at it instinctively, but almost immediately after she flinched, she welcomed the bite by relaxing her muscles and letting the fangs sink deeper into her flesh. She now felt an icy-hot liquid pass through her veins, and she felt a new wave of magic run through all of her.

It wasn't until she felt a prick in her lips that she began to notice what was happening. She felt her teeth with her tongue, and when she tasted blood from cutting herself, she knew she had grown fangs. She wanted to bite something, _someone_. The instinct was driving her mad and the midst of her not knowing what was going on, a little window opened, and her rational self-hopped in.

She blinked twice and her eyes began focusing on the scene. She couldn't figure out the whole of her surroundings, but it was enough for her to glimpse the blurry outline of her friends. There was clearly an invisible force, stopping them from reaching her.

_**What**__ is happening?!_ The little piece of rationality left in her thought.

She began to panic at her sudden urge to bite someone. Who did she wanted to bite was a cloudy answer, but the mere thought of it made her panic. Her sharp breaths took the little air in her lungs left, making her unable to breathe properly. She looked up to see the obsidian eyes, now brighter than ever, in the man who was holding her with an iron grip, and her eyes widened at the sight of his bloody teeth with his prominent fangs adorning his mouth.

Her hair began releasing bright blue sparks, liberating raw magic and she knew she was having a panic attack. It had happened once before in her life, and she knew how terrifying it was. Just after she had obliviated her parents, fear crawled its way into her, and she had to hide behind one of the big bushes of her neighborhood until the panic had subdued. It had left her emotionally drained for two days, and the bush itself was left with its leaves all from different colours and shapes and the grass frozen in a sunny day of summer.

What she was feeling now, was pretty close to that time, but the pheromones in the air mellowed her panic and fear a bit.

Before her body could shut down entirely, she reached for a tree branch, and the branch along with the whole tree froze like an ice stalactite. The release of magic helped her a bit to calm down the hysteria slowly rising in her blood, but the feeling of having lost control over anything resided still within her.

"D-Draco… S… Severus.. help..." She whispered to the forest with the minimal energy she had left and felt the sudden pressing feeling of being apparated before she succumbed to darkness.

* * *

He was feeling _alive_. It was as if he was just been born after decades of being a living corpse waiting for resurrection. Her blood and the luscious scent had tasted heavenly, every cell in his body fired up at the taste and touch of the crimson elixir.

Severus could hear the now peaceful breathing of his mate across the stone wall. He'd apparated them into his chambers of Hogwarts and as soon as they arrived, he used his occlumency to shut down his mind and put the unconscious Hermione safely on his bed, and casting a quick _Scourgify _ on her neck, he shut himself out of the room before anything disastrous could happen. He drowned himself with every single calming draught he had in hand and proceeded to cast every single ward and protection spell he knew to keep himself out of the room where Hermione was. At least until he'd calmed down.

It wasn't the first time he'd lost control of the situation. But it was the first time where his actions would leave a permanent mark. A worrisome one.

He hadn't meant to bite her, not at all. He wanted her full consent before he could even _touch _her. _Not that I already broke the rules with that one,_ he sourly, though. But still, biting her only put her in a decisive position. He was sure she wanted to bite him as well, but he was also certain her decision-making back in the forest was heavily influenced with his pheromones. The exact same pheromones he was now using to calm his mate and make sure she wouldn't fall again in the panic attack she was having. _Panic and magic don't get along when fused together inside of her _He made a mental note to release his pheromones whenever he felt she was beginning to panic. Now that it was easier to handle his pheromones he could direct them, to an extent, towards which emotions he wanted to release. _Of course, I could've mastered them already is she'd also bit me… _

He shook his head, at how desperate his thoughts were becoming. A loud crash came from the adjacent room, and he soon felt an iring wave of uncertainty and fear, closely followed by annoyance. _She must have woken up. _The doorknob made loud noises, trying to be opened, and the door received heavy bangings.

"I demand you let me out this instant!" Cried the exasperated voice of the witch. He assured himself of having taken at least two veela potions before he removed the spells separating them, and opened the door only to see a fuming witch standing fearlessly in front of him.

Her hair was now half undone, with wild curls dancing everywhere near her head. The hem of her dress at her feet was muddy and wrinkled, and the fabric of her neck was torn. He noticed, although now clean, two fang marks deeply impressed in the burning, horribly visible sore spot on her fair skin.

"I understand how distraught you must be feeling right now. I don't blame you for anything that's happened, and I apologise for my behaviour these past weeks as well as the critical position I've put you in." He said somberly, looking sideways, trying to avoid her bright eyes.

"Fangs! I had fangs!" She exclaimed, feeling her teeth, verifying they were normal again. "And don't try using your pheromones on me Severus Snape! I know damn well what you're attempting to do –and let me tell you– It's not going to work! It's not only disrespectful, but also it is abusive of you to _release_ your pheromones to make me feel as you please!" She spat. It was mere moments after her outburst that she seemed more serene. Her flushed cheeks and ragged breaths decreased, and she closed her eyes, cooling herself down.

She opened them after a moment. "Stop it. I don't like being manipulated with." She said with a more composed tone than before.

"I'm not manipulating you. I can't really help the pheromones, but I can somehow transmit them in a way to ensure your tranquility and peace." He said with a tense voice. And stopped for a moment before continuing, "If a veela senses that its mate is in a position of distress or danger, it will do anything to ensure they are safe and content. That being said, I can only hope you never have to suffer any situation like that in the future." He said, and she looked up at him with a frown on her face.

"Why… why is it I can somehow _sense_ what you are feeling?" She asked in the most anxious and fearful expression he's ever seen on her.

"Because of this." Sadness enfolded his words just as his index finger pointed at her neck, mere inches from touching it. Her hand went up to her neck, and a single tear rolled down her face when her fingertips kissed the fang marks on her neck.

"You already know the bond is not complete until you bite and mate with me. You're mildly attached to me now, so there's still no commitment made. Sensing each other's emotions and feelings when we're close is one of the few differences the mark will make."

They stayed quiet for two full minutes, the thick atmosphere daring them to make a move. She was watching him with a stern face and her bright brown eyes boring deep into his black ones.

"You've noticed the fangs of course." He said softly, his eyes never leaving hers. "What you must probably didn't notice back in the forest were your eyes. The possibility of them being metallic black back in the woods is very high." She lowered her eyes at his statement and found the stone floor was more comforting than the cold, dark eyes piercing through her.

She cleared her throat and spoke, "I should get going. They must probably wonder where I am." She said frostily brushing past him and reached for the door.

"How… how did you manage to apparate us? This is Hogwarts…" She said to him in a small voice without turning her back; her head was sideways and her eyes looking down.

"Being a headmaster has its benefits," He said softly "…Hermione."

Her body visibly became stiff at the sound of her first name on his lips, and without saying more, she strode off from his cold chambers.

He didn't know many hours he'd been standing in the bitter and numbing water of his shower, covering his naked body in its frosty totality. It wasn't until he heard his teeth chattering loudly enough to drive him mad that he decided to get out from the gelid waters. His skin had goosebumps and bluish spots all over it, his muscles hardened with bitterness, and his movements were slower than usual.

He put his nightgown as slowly as he got out of the shower, and he sat at the end of his languid bed; the very same bed where Hermione Granger was lying hours before.

With ragged, quick breaths, he snatched greedily his bed covers and buried his face so deep within them it was hard for him to breathe. He didn't care. The intoxicating, and engulfing scent filled his nostrils, and his mind had a drowsing moment with the little taste of his mate his dowdy sheets provided.

He sat there in complete darkness, his face still buried deep in the blankets, and his knuckles white from the hard grip he had on them.

_I can only hope as much as this heavenly pleasure from her, to satisfy the burning desire I have, for mere moments… _He thought miserably as the vanilla perfume lingering on his sheets was fading slowly, away from his mind and senses. _More… I need… __**long**__… for more… _The decrepit thought also faded away, along with the long lost hope of ever finding happiness again.

_It's over now; I've lost her… forever.  
_

And for the first time in seventeen years, Severus Snape wept.

* * *

"Draco it's fine now, I've everything packed. Now that I'm living with Harry, I did a little shopping back in summer, and I got enough clothes for the holidays." She said taking a blouse from Draco's hands and putting it back into her drawer, she quickly closed her trunk before he could deposit more garments in it. "Besides, if I'm short on clothing, I can always _buy_ more." She said stepping in front of him, and with a crooked smile, she gave him a peck on the lips.

"Granger, it's not fair! Why can't I pamper my girlfriend with endless amounts of gifts and clothing?" Draco said after the eleventh time Hermione turned down his wish to buy her a thousand galleons worth of clothing and jewelry.

"_Because_ not only it's highly inappropriate, but also I would rather you spend it in a more valuable and honest way. For example, you could give it to St. Mungo's or charity."

"But that's no fun." He said pouting like a child who wasn't allowed any candy. "It's not my fault it's a pure-blood tradition for a wizard to engulf and spoil the witch whom they are courting with an exorbitant amount of gifts." She laughed as she hit him with a pillow. "Well _I'm_ not a pure blood, so your tradition can make an exception with me."

"As long as I can have you with me." He said hugging her heartily. Meanwhile, his wild eyes found the dress, which was beautiful for a brief time, hung on one of her wardrobe's doors.

"What will you do with it?" He said after their embrace, pointing at the dress. She sighed. The dress in the whole didn't look so bad, but up closely it showed visibly the torn material on the neck, fully exposing it. Her hand unconsciously went up to the spot he had bit her, fully covered by her violet turtleneck jumper, and couldn't stop her eyes from watering.

Draco made sure the whole ordeal seemed ages ago, when in reality, the ball had been just the day before. She returned hastily to their dorms and sent her Patronus to the others, promising she was well, and she needed rest. Draco of course, didn't wait before she slept and asked her what_ actually_ had happened. With glassy eyes, and fat tears covering her blushing cheeks, she showed him the bite marks and assured him there was no commitment with just that bite, so there wasn't a reason to worry yet.

After he finally calmed down and promised he wouldn't speak a word to anyone, especially his godfather, he made sure to distract her mind from what's happened, and helped her pack her trunk for the holidays.

"I don't know." She said after a pregnant pause. "It was such a charming dress, and it would be a waste to trash it. But my sanity is more important than just a pretty dress with torn fabric."

"Don't worry about it." He said affectionately, and without saying more, the dress vanished into nothingness. They stood there, their eyes glued to the empty spot the dress used to occupy, and jumped at the sound of a knocking on their chamber's door.

"It's probably Harry." She said absently

"I'll go get it then. Do you want me to tell him to go away?" He said, and she shook her head.

"It's okay. I think it's time to face the show."

* * *

They all stood in the train station of Hogsmeade waiting for the Hogwarts Express to depart, many students were saying their temporary goodbyes to their friends, and some were doing last-minute Christmas shopping.

Draco had his arm around Hermione's shoulders, as they waited for their friends to arrive.

"You promise you'll write to me?" She said to him.

"Only if you promise to come to our annual New Year's dinner." He said and laughed when he saw the look of a deer caught in the headlights in her face.

"B-But…"

"Mother already knows about you, and I can assure you she's delighted to meet you. And my father… he knows that if he steps even an inch out of line, he's back in Azkaban, so there's no need to worry. There's going to be Aurors there." He added at the end after seeing her expression full of doubt.

"Wasn't your family hosting a Christmas banquet?"

"Yes." He chuckled. "Mother is _very_ insistent with parties every holiday. And even more this year now that the war is finally over; she can finally do whatever she wants without Voldemort's "permission"."

Harry and Ginny arrived alongside with Ron, who was the only one completely oblivious about Hermione's current situation.

It had been hard for her to explain both Harry and Ginny her "secret admirer" was a veela. After reviving their memories of the D.A.D.A class where they've seen them, she explained the general outline of what a veela was, and how being a quarter veela was different from a full blooded one. It was even harder to explain them both (after recovering from their initial shock when they found out she was a ¼ veela's mate); the veela was none other than Severus Snape. Hermione mentally thanked Luna when she feigned shock about her confession and was grateful both Ginny and Harry were few of the most trustworthy people she's ever met. She knew her secret was safe with them.

Showing them her fang marks, buried deep within her skin was another story. Yes, Harry was her best friend, and she trusted him with her soul, but his temper betrayed him when he threatened to go after Snape and personally give him a piece of his mind. Hermione was grateful Draco kept calming draughts in his dorm, for they helped Harry rationalize much better her situation.

After almost two hours of trying to stop him to go and hex Snape, he promised Hermione he wouldn't do it unless she asked him, and promised too, he'll be with her throughout the whole thing and accept whatever her decision she made. Ginny, on the other hand, took things surprisingly well. After the initial outburst and immediate questions, she became rather quiet and just spoke to reassure Hermione of her loyalty and her support. But she couldn't help but feel Ginny stare at her with sadness beyond the imaginable. She probably understood the heartbreaking situation she was in.

"Hey, guys." She greeted at them weakly as they approached them. "I'll be with Draco in the head compartments for the majority of the journey. You go ahead." She said with a feeble smile.

"See you in a bit 'Mione," Harry said and they joined the train.

The journey home had a bittersweet taste for Hermione's opinion. The trees, lakes, and roads they passed were dull and melancholic, just like her mood. She already knew this was going to be her second Christmas without knowing anything from her parents, but past events from this year threw a bigger dagger into her chest. _At least I know they are safe… The end of their lives doesn't depend on me. _She cynically thought._  
_

There was a soft knock on their compartment's window and saw Harry opening their door softly.

"May I come in?"

"Sure Harry, take a seat." She said gesturing the seat in front of her.

"I believe my time as a third wheel has come. I'll go and bother Blaise and Luna for a bit." Said Draco standing up, and after a chaste kiss on Hermione's lips, he exited the compartment.

They were silent a good forty minutes. Harry watched his best friend looking absently at the window, her eyes flashing up momentarily at the passing birds in the fields. It was true what she'd said about the veela thingy doing her physical changes. Her hair looked shinier, her skin was glowing with a rosy, healthy tone, and the dark circles around her eyes were almost gone. She looked healthy and happy to virtually any eye that would see her. But only the ones who really knew her, knew she looked broken and worn out. Even though physically she may look healthy, the deep absent look she had in her eyes, the somber demeanor she carried, along with her almost monotone voice, made her lose the brightness and healthiness the veela venom had provided her two days before.

They arrived at King's Cross late in the night, and Harry went to greet the Weasleys while Hermione stayed to say goodbye to Draco. He could see the hesitation in her conduct when she greeted . She'd obviously found out about her break up with Ron, and although she still gave her a welcoming hug, Harry wasn't so sure she would be as enthusiastic to haver her over Christmas if it weren't she'd already agreed before the term had started.

After the Weasleys had left, a few people remained in the platform alongside Harry and Hermione.

"Harry," She said putting her hand on his shoulder. "Let's go home."

* * *

Arriving at Grimmauld Place brought in a wave of memories for both Hermione and Harry. The house still being quite old, dark and empty, now had a friendlier air than years before. Yes, there was still a great deal of cleaning to do, but the house looked less and less like the property of an ancient pure-blooded supremacist family, and more like a place both Harry and Hermione could find peace in it.

They'd spent the first two days cleaning the house and redecorating their respective rooms. Kreacher would sometimes appear and rarely was in the mood to do anything more than sweeping the floor. Harry had told him he would serve Hogwarts as long as Harry stayed there, and (under the influence of Hermione) gave him two weeks worth of vacations on holidays. Both Harry and Hermione could sometimes hear the yelling and trashing of Kreacher in the attic since the moment they'd arrived. He'd felt deeply betrayed and resentful towards them when he'd found his mistress' portrait along with many others, were hoarded in the attic back in the summer. He was slowly becoming to understand Harry was his new master, and that meant accepting everything he'd been taught to despise.

Hermione spent the days confined in her room, in the drawing room studying for her N.E.W.T.s or reading new books she would find in the small library. She didn't eat much and had already written Draco seven times in the mere three days of their stay (Hedwig had started to avoid her), all at the same time she tried to forget all about Severus Snape.

It was becoming very difficult not to, not only because of the fang marks she had to see every damn day but also because of the haunting dreams plaguing her mind at nights. What most scared her wasn't the fact she felt repulsed or compelled by the dreams. But the exact same opposite. Worst of it all was the fact her dreams mostly included Draco and Severus. _I might just throw myself out of the window now that nobody is watching and get over with it, _She dreamily thought looking outside her window.

On the night of Christmas Eve, Harry visited her room carrying a large tray full of food.

"Harry!" She exclaimed at the sight of the wizard trying to get past through her door,"What is all of this? We'd already dinner! I though I made enough, are you still hungry?" She said helping him carry the tray, concerned her poor cooking skills, both magical and Muggle, had somehow poisoned Harry. _I hope the mushroom soup wasn't too salty…_

"This is for you 'Mione." He said putting the tray on the little table beside her bed, motioning for her to sit on the chair. When she didn't, he further explained. "Hermione I know you, and I also happen to know how depression looks like. Now sit."

"I'm not depressed. What are you talking about?" She said with an offended tone and he sighed.

"Yeah right, and Malfoy is a Muggle-Born. Hermione, please eat something. The fact that you sit and make me company while I'm eating doesn't mean you're eating too. I could almost swear the jumper you're wearing right know wasn't too big for you a few weeks ago." He said and motioned her to sit again.

After some reluctant nibblings on her re-heated mushroom soup, and a scone with pumpkin butter, Hermione felt her throat being closed to anything but liquids. Gulping all of her tea she finally felt she had enough food for one day. "Harry I appreciate your effort, but I sincerely can't eat anything else. I'm just not feeling hungry."

"You know Mrs. Weasley might just stuff you like a turkey tomorrow if she sees you like this you know?" He said, and she let out a humorless laugh.

"I seriously doubt it. I don't believe she cares too much for me after I "broke" her dear son's heart." She said, and Harry laughed.

"I don't think so. Yeah, maybe she'd hoped for you to become the perfect wife for Ron, but she also knows you're a good person, and you had a good reason for it." He said taking the leftovers of Hermione's bread and popped it into his mouth.

"I'm not so sure about coming tomorrow, though. I do want to see everybody, but I don't know if there will be too much Weasley pressure to handle." She said tossing him a napkin.

"I'll tell you what." He said in between his chewing. "If you don't feel comfortable enough, we can go and have our own special Christmas dinner elsewhere."

"That doesn't sound too bad actually. But no. As much uncomfortable I might feel, it's not the end of the world and I want to have them as a "family" for the rest of my life. We can't all dwell on the past." She said and sighed. In the mild darkness of her room, a wave of colours erupted from her opened window, and flashing colours illuminated the pale faces of them both.

"I wouldn't have expected fireworks in Christmas Eve." Said Harry suddenly after some silence.

"Well, it's London after all. You always get to see a little bit of everything in the big cities." She said.

Moments of silence passed through the wizards as they saw the flashing of colours the fireworks made. Crookshanks jumped into Hermione's lap to have too, a better view of the fireworks. It was surprising he seemed unfazed with the sound and light it made. For a moment, Harry saw the pale face filled with flashes of light of his best friend. She had a ponytail, and her pajamas and jumper left her bite marks uncovered, brightly visible in the moonlight. It was the first time he'd seen them since the day after the ball. _If she'd known I would come at this hour to her room, I bet she would've covered it with a scarf or something, _he thought, realising how much pressure she must've been feeling over the situation.

"…I'm scared." She said suddenly after minutes had passed between them, too entranced by the fireworks to have noticed the time. He looked up at her and saw her eyes full of sorrow and guilt.

"Have you written to Malf –I mean Draco?" He said, and she nodded. As much as Harry wanted to help Hermione, he knew he couldn't intervene in her love life. If she decided to stay with either of them, Harry didn't have a vote in the decision. All he could do was support her, and help her at times like this, when he feared she would starve to death.

"He insists I attend their New Year's party. Says his mother is "thrilled" to meet me and promises she never said a single bad word about me back then." She said and took out the invitation from one of her drawers, handing it over to Harry.

The envelope as well as the letter were written in a pale, grey paper, with a thick black ink on it. The invitation was as formal as the letter from Hogwarts, but it had a small touch that made it look more personal, and the envelope had the Malfoy emblem on the seal, coloured with black wax.

"I haven't responded yet. I wanted to ask you first what were your plans for New Year." She said wistfully while Harry read the invitation.

"You should go." He said looking up. "I could just spend the day at the Burrow, I don't think there would be a problem. Besides, he _is_ your boyfriend. And if he goes as far as telling his mother about you and sending you this formal letter, the more reason to go." He finished, and she meekly nodded.

"But right now I don't want to make decisions. I just want to enjoy the fireworks with my cat and my best friend." She said, and they lay in her bed, to have a better and more comfortable view.

"How long for Mrs. Malfoy to bring up your break up with Ron?" He said after a few silent moments of content.

"_Harry_!"

* * *

Dinner at the Burrow was just as uncomfortable as Hermione had predicted. Or at least the first minutes after their arrival. Harry went and greeted everyone, and in a blink of an eye, Hermione saw he and Ginny had mysteriously disappeared from eyesight.

With a sigh, she stood awkwardly at the side of the fireplace, wondering if she should greet Ron or first, but thankfully, Ron wiped away that concern.

"Bill and Fleur are on their way. The twins will arrive just before we start dinner, they told us they were crammed with business today. Charlie, well you know he returned to Romania, Percy is most likely to come, but you know how he is, "_The Minister is such a blah blah blah…"_. And mum said Remus should be coming too, with Teddy." Ron said with a sympathetic smile while greeting Hermione. She was grateful his heart-warming welcome might just persuade Molly not to poison her share of butterbeer tonight.

As Ron said, Bill and Fleur arrived mere moments after Harry and Hermione did, breaking up the slight tension formed before.

"Oh 'Ermione, you 'ave such a beautiful sweater!" Fleur said after they all had sat down in the living room. Meanwhile, checked the dinner. "Thanks." Hermione smiled politely looking down at her oversized gray turtleneck jumper, hiding the fang marks her neck had. The day after they'd arrived at Grimmauld Place, Hermione practically ran to the nearest shop to buy clothing that would hide her neck at all costs, mostly turtlenecks and scarves. She decided she wouldn't use any glamor or charm on her skin until the weather warmed.

After dinner, Remus and Teddy came and the conversation deviated from the new Ministry managements to the adorable toddler with changing hair.

"We just came from Andromeda's," Remus said, handing Teddy to Hermione, "We couldn't stop his hair from changing colours even though she had removed anything at sight with bright likes to imitate the colours he sees you see. Just seconds ago his hair had the colour of a candy cane." He chuckled at his son, who had now his hair and eyes a matching auburn colour.

"Teddy you're so big! I can't believe how much you've grown!" Hermione exclaimed at the infant in her arms. "How long has it been?" She said looking up at Remus, ignoring the concern plastered on his face when he looked at her, "I think that is has been since August that I haven't seen this lovely face." She said tickling Teddy's tummy, who grinned back with a mouth full of white caps and small teeth.

"You sure like children 'Ermione. 'ow long we'll have to wait for yours?" Fleur said, without realising the stiff positions Harry, Ginny and Hermione and Remus took when they heard her.

"I… I do like children yes." She said caressing Teddy's hand. "But I'm not sure I'm ready for them just yet. First I want settle down and have a stable position at the Ministry to support a family, and then I'll think about it." She said with a nervous laugh, not daring to look at Molly.

"Harry, Ron," said Remus, breaking the tension "I wanted to speak to you about the Auror training. I know I promised you we would start in November, but there were some things that came up. But I wanted first a word with Hermione." He said, and she looked up, surprised. "I have the information you asked about the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." He said and looked at her with a face that said just-go-with-it.

"Uh, yes sure." She said and they made their way to the kitchen while the others stayed in the living room.

After putting some silencing spells, he motioned Hermione to sit. _What is this about?_

"How's your neck?" He asked catching her off guard and her blood froze.

"Um, Excuse me?" She posed in a high pitch tone.

"Hermione I _know_. You have his scent all over you." She felt like fainting, and he continued. "We werewolves have heightened scent as you already know. And well, that ability helps us too when there are any vampires or giants near. We can smell them; there are some magical creatures that release a particular type of scent. Even humans have a specific kind of smell. Vampires have their own, giants, werewolves and well… veelas too." She couldn't speak, she couldn't _breathe_. The air from her lungs had long gone ago.

"He has bitten you hasn't he?" He said and she nodded, crystal clear tears falling from her eyes. She stood up and walked closer to him, revealing her neck with the white marks the fangs left.

"I… at first I didn't know what he was," Remus said after gaping at her neck. "I knew he wasn't entirely human and I remembered how Fleur had smelled the first time I met her. But this was different. I saw him in October, and after that meeting, I put myself to investigate because he smelled different from what I've smelled before. Only then I realized he was a veela, or at least part from one. I also knew he smelled different from before and far different from Fleur because not only was his blood active, but he'd found his mate.

"It was only then, at out meeting weeks ago, that I realized you were his mate. _Merlin _his pheromones stank out the entire pub. And the way he was looking at you… Well after that, I didn't want to intervene because I know how Severus is, but when I saw you tonight… veela venom leaves its owners essence on the bite for a few days. I only guessed what must've had happened." He looked at her sadly, and she nodded at his story. At the truthiness his words spoke.

"I'm sorry Hermione." He said at last and she hugged him, wincing at the little and only comfort anyone could give her concerning her condition.

"I don't know what to do." She said at last. "I'm very in love with Draco, but there's like a force pulling me down and making me have… thoughts I would never dream of having concerning Snape. It scares me so. It scares me that part of me feels repulsed by the idea and part of me actually _wants_ it." She said biting her lip.

"I can only help with the little knowledge I know about the situation. One thing's for sure; you're fighting against nature here Hermione." He said, and her face whitened and contorted in horror. "Don't get me wrong, humankind has always fought against it, but what I meant was the reason you feel torn about it. Part of you wants it because that's "nature". Now, the rational part, the logic, feels repulsed because it is probable that your mind is dominant over your hormones. And that isn't bad either. It's a question for you to decide." He said, and they heard a soft knocking on the door.

"Are you done yet?" Came the voice of Ron from the other side of the door. "I'm dying for some mince pies and I don't want them to get cold."

"We better hurry, or Ron's mince pies will get cold." He grinned and stood up. "I believe it is better if you speak with Fleur; her veela blood may be dormant, but she still has veela parentage. It should be good for you."

"Thanks, Professor."

"And for the thousand time, please call me Remus or at least, Lupin." He said smiling.

"Sorry, it was out from habit." She said and returned only a ghost of his smile.

* * *

The holidays continued for the most of them peacefully. Harry and Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place on the morning of the 26th, both too drunk to be able to apparate, and decided to spend the day out instead of staying in the house. Over the next few days, Harry visited the Burrow, and while he insisted Hermione to come too, she stayed back with the excuse she needed to review her notes and she needed a dress for the party at the Malfoy's. He knew she was showing signs of depression, but she denied so, arguing she was just tired. He stayed with her as much as he could, making her company and before they departed for their respective New Year's celebrations, they had shared the whole day.

"If you need anything, just escape to the nearest floo, give me a call and I'll be there." He said kissing her forehead.

"Harry I'll be _fine_. You should be the one worrying. I bet Molly Weasley will spare no time into ambushing you with questions about marriage."

"I'm not concerned about it, but I would her to ask _after_ we've graduated."

"Bye, Harry."

"Bye, 'Mione" He said and with a crack, he apparated to the Burrow. She sighed and made her way to their fireplace. In contrast with the Christmas ball, she hoped her simple silver grey satin dress didn't pass as something too casual. She wore her hair down, and with an immense amount of magic she made it cover up entirely her bite marks, she also glamored the skin just in case.

_I just hope I enjoy this night_ she though and with another visible sigh she said at last, throwing the floo powder into the green fire, "Malfoy Manor!" and she disappeared from the green flames.

* * *

**A/N: Please review what you think of it... please! And keep reading :3**


	14. First and second impressions

**A/N: I decided to upload earlier yas! Although this chapter is shorter than previous ones, I'm sure there are still many mistakes like in my previous chapters (I'm still correcting them) But besides that, I hope you'll like it :)**

**Thank you all for your support, reviews, follows, etc.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, continue reading and review! **

* * *

"I must say, this red champagne tastes much better than any of the drinks I was served at the Christmas party one of Kasper's clients held," Pansy said, drinking from her cherry red champagne glass.

"What did you expect? I'm a Malfoy." Draco retorted flashing a white smile.

"Yeah well, you're a Malfoy alright. A Malfoy who seems to have _only_ good taste in drinks." She scoffed and he scowled at her. "And clothes. I'll give you that too." She darkly smirked.

"Keep up the snide comments and you'll end up banishing your company for the night."

"You don't need to be a meanie!" She said with a pout. "Besides, I can hardly agree with you." She stated in a sickly-sweet tone and flicking her hair, she motioned Draco to hold her drink. Disproving his past statement, she walked to the closest man and openly flirted with him using only using body language. Draco looked at her incredulously at how easily she had the man in her finger and doing it so without the woman at his side noticing.

_She knows as well as I do, how easy is for us both to have anyone begging at their feet within the first seconds of conversation… _he merrily thought. _Of course, everyone except Granger that is. _He knew the stubborn and witty brain of hers knew better than to fall for his antics. It was one of the reasons he was so smitten with her.

"Just as easy as that," Pansy said, snapping him off his thoughts, grabbing her drink back. The man was looking very flustered and drank up his drink in a single gulp.

"Now, you were saying I'm going to get lonely tonight?"

"That wasn't my point." He said raising his index up. "Speaking of which, where is your boyfriend? I love the Slytherin attitude, but if he came with you all the way from France, I think he would like to be with you."

"Not really. I mean, yes the sex is excellent," She said rolling her eyes "and we both benefit from one another in many ways with this relationship, but he doesn't mind me flirting with other guys. It turns him on actually, the way I can easily make men all worked up and know I'm only his. It's all part of the charm." She said winking at Draco.

Draco had to admit Pansy was a magnificent looking woman, and she knew it. She had full heart-shaped pink lips that many would envy, a small upturned button nose placed perfectly between her oval cheekbones, and her bright green eyes, contrasting exquisitely with her straight, dark chocolate hair and milky white skin. And just as Draco, she knew what her strengths were, and she used them to her advantage. Wearing a long, black dress with black high heels and cherry blossom pink nail polish, almost every man would drool at the sight of her.

Draco was glad he wasn't one of those men. He never was. He recognized that although his best friend was the dreamy type of girl, Granger had somehow taught him how to look past the visual aspects of a person and look deeper into it. She'd mentioned him countless of times the theory of the "shadow world" a Muggle philosopher, Plato said. _"You have to look past all of the physical and false aspects. Only then, you'll reach true happiness."  
_

He remembered Granger saying it. And it was true. It was on his fifth year when he began to notice that it didn't matter how many times he would snog and shag with Pansy or any other girl, he always had an empty feeling at the end. He began thinking more and more in the words of Hermione Granger, and he realised why his relationships lasted no more than three weeks each. He may have been physically content, but the girls he dated always left him with the desire of intellect. Even Pansy. Sure, she's his best friend, but he had to admit, as much as she is good looking, she preferred talking about shoes than books. And that annoyed him. Is not that she wasn't smart because boy, if she wanted, she was cunning as hell, and she could've gotten seven outstandings or more in her exams, but it just wasn't her thing. She knew she was smart, but her mind preferred and dwelled in a more materialistic world.

_Thank Gods Hermione isn't like that._

"Hey! Are you even listening to me? I asked you when will your _Muggle-Born_ girlfriend arrive!" Pansy said exasperated, having asked two times for the same thing already.

"I got it the first time Pansy," He snapped "and I told her to come at eight."

"Does your mother approve?" She asked darkly, and he rolled his eyes.

"_Yes, _Pansy she does. She doesn't really mind she's not pure-blooded, after all we've been through, she just wants to see me happy. Guess she doesn't want me to turn like my father." He said, muttering the last part to himself.

"You know you can always contact me if something goes wrong you know," She said slyly and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"How many times must I say I don't need nor want your "matchmaking skills"? I appreciate the thought Pansy, but if anything goes wrong with Granger, which I highly _doubt_ it, I think _I_ can get a date by myself." He said and motioned Blaise, who'd just arrived to come and join them.

"I know you can. But I'm just saying, I have the number of some pure-blooded girls who would love to date you. _And_ some of them are French." She said finally and grinned at him with a perfect and white smile.

"Hello there Pansy! Long time no see." Blaise said, mildly hugging her. "What happened to your boyfriend?"

"Oh, he's here. He didn't waste any time to start talking about business with some of the guests." She said motioning to a crowd in the corner, where a tall blond man with strong German features, stood.

"You're not going to Japan anymore?" Draco inquired, and Blaise conjured a Firewhiskey from the nearby table.

"There's still the possibility, but if we do go, it won't be until March. Speaking of dates," She said, changing the topic, and looked at Blaise, "it is _very_ strange not seeing you with a girl at your side in a party."

"You see, the girl I wanted to have at my side tonight couldn't make it. She went to Ireland with her father. They er –visited her mother." Blaise said uncomfortably.

"He means Luna Lovegood." Draco explained to Pansy, after considering Blaise coward enough to tell Pansy, who was his "girl".

"Lovegood?!" Pansy shrieked almost spilling her champagne. "You're dating Loony Lovegood? I thought your tastes were better than _Draco's_!" She said, and Draco raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean –I understand she's as pure-blooded as we are, but she's a _nutter_." She finished, and Draco drank from his glass, suppressing a laugh at how candid Pansy was.

"Don't. Talk. About. Luna. Like. That." Blaise said with anger plastered on his face. "And we're not dating yet." He added.

"My, aren't we protective? Calm down Zabini, I don't mean any harm. But just as I was saying to Draco, I can't believe you, boys!" She said slapping slighty Draco's arm. "I'm away for seven months and look at what's happened! I come up with perfect girls for you, and look at who you run after with! Seriously," She said with an angry sigh and drank from her glass, before continuing "not even to stop and think about Daphne, Astoria, or even Tracey who were in school with us!"

"What happened to them?" Draco said not really curious, but he just wanted to keep up with the conversation until Hermione arrived.

"Well, Astoria is still with you at Hogwarts, as you should already _know_," She said narrowing her eyes at them "Tracey is… I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but I believe she married a famous Irish Quidditch player, so she probably lives in Ireland now… And Daphne, well I don't know why she isn't here tonight, but she's in the country. Just as stubborn as Theo, she refused to repeat another year at school or leave her studies unfinished, so she left after the war to Beauxbatons to study for her N.E.W.T.s. She returned in June and did them. Eight Outstandings she got." She said rolling her eyes.

"I even thought about pairing her and Theo together, seeing neither of you would bother and pay attention to her." She said glaring at them " With the brains they both have…Too bad he's in Sweden probably snogging the brains out from some Swedish girl. Ah, maybe when he returns…" She said the last part mostly to herself.

"Just keep Blaise and me out of your matchmaking thingy, please." Draco said.

* * *

Hermione stepped out of an enormous fireplace when she arrived at the Manor. She Scourgified her attire and saw there was already a butler waiting for her. _This must be some entrance for guests, when arriving by floo_ she mused to herself.

"Mr. Malfoy is waiting for you Miss, may I escort you to the Ballroom?"

"Yes, please." She said and took his arm.

Walking down the Manor, Hermione caught herself in a wave of memories and emotions when they passed next to the drawing room. She could almost see herself and Bellatrix in the room, remembering vividly how the Cruciatus curse had felt. There were times in which she could almost see the word _Mudblood_ scarred into her arm, gone the moment Bellatrix died.

Trying not to flinch, she walked as if nothing had happened there, and she distracted herself with the walls. She saw many portraits on them, some asleep, and the ones awake looked like if their mouths had been zipped with an invisible cord. _If Walburga Black's portrait didn't hesitate for a second to insult me verbally, I'm glad they enchanted the Malfoy ones. _She thought, seeing the indignant and choleric looks some of the portraits gave her, and their contorted expressions trying to open their mouths.

They reached the ballroom, and the moment the butler was gone, the doors opened to reveal one of the most elegant and aristocratic rooms she's ever seen in her life. The walls were black, adorned with drapes and paintings. On the far end of one wall, just above a pair of big, dark-wooded doors, was the Malfoy emblem. The floor was black marble so shiny and clean, Hermione could see her reflection in it. All the furniture adorned the place and gave it a look of being in the Victorian era; the furniture had all colours varying from black to silver. But what most stunned her, was the enormous crystal chandelier hanging in the exact center of the room, illuminating the whole ballroom.

She didn't notice the many guests looking at her until she felt Draco's hand softly touching her arm. "I've missed you." He said to her ear and she smiled at him, but saw how many of the guest had taken an interest in the new arrival. Admiration, indifference and even disgust were the looks they were giving her. A shiver went down her spine.

"Just ignore them. Not only there are more than a handful of Aurors here, but many are just surprised to see one of the Golden Trio here." He said, "And you don't need to meet them. Almost all of the guests are for the entertainment of my parents. Sure, I had to present myself to all of them, as I may or may not do business with some in the future. But that is over now, I want you to relax. It's a party after all." He said reassuring her with a warm smile.

They walked across the room, and without looking up from the floor, they met with Blaise and Pansy.

"Hermione, nice to see you tonight." Blaise said politely, taking Hermione's hand and kissed it softly.

"Blaise, the feeling is mutual." She said with a small smile.

"You mustn't be completely worthless if Draco has taken a deep interest in you for more than a year." Pansy said with a snobbish, cheeky expression on her face.

"Pansy. Nice to see you too." She said politely with lips pursed, trying to maintain her appearance as indifferent as possible.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I despise you…that much. Your magical abilities and intelligence actually impress me, for being a Mud –Muggle-Born girl. But I sincerely believe Draco would do much better with a well bred, pure-blooded girl. Blaise could do too..." She said looking sideways at Blaise, before returning her gaze to Hermione with a wry smile "but that's beside the point."

Hermione looked at her without knowing what to say. Meanwhile, Blaise shot daggers at her.

"Don't worry," Draco said putting his arm around Hermione's back, "What you heard is probably the closest Pansy has ever been ever to say a compliment. And you," He said to Pansy, "Should start respecting my girlfriend… and Luna too. As much as you despise it, Granger will be sticking with me for a long time," He said, and Hermione blushed, "As for Luna… I don't know, but you should respect Blaise's decision too." He finished, and Pansy rolled her eyes.

Talking to Blaise and Pansy was somewhat refreshing for Hermione. They weren't the kind of people she would approach at a party (or anywhere for that matter), but she hadn't felt at all awkward with their presence. After some uncomfortable and arrogant remarks made by Pansy, Hermione found her company not-at-all-annoying. She knew her pure-blooded arrogance and Slytherin pride prevented her from being nice at Hermione, but after some conversation between the witches, -she found Pansy could be a tiny bit amusing as long as the harsh comments were referred to someone else. Or if she didn't say any too.

"And know," He said again to Hermione, following his night's schedule, "It's time you to meet my mother." And motioned them to a far end of the ballroom. _Wait what? I didn't sign up for this! It's too soon. Too soon! _She frantically looked for a way out and saw her hopes dying out, as the closest doors looked farther and farther away from where they were walking to.

"My, Draco, you didn't have to scare the poor girl to come here!" came the voice of Narcissa Malfoy. Standing up from a very fancy-looking chaise lounge, a slim, white-blond haired and very sumptuous dressed woman approach them, and almost shoving Draco from Hermione's hold, she took her hands in hers, and looked carefully at the I'm-about-to-faint expression on Hermione's face.

"Hermione Granger, such a pleasure and delight to meet again, and be able to join us in tonight's celebration." She said with a pleasantry motion.

"Thank you for inviting me Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said in above a whisper.

"Such a doll you are." She said smiling at her with her rouge lips. "Now, why don't we take a seat," Narcissa said, and with a single word to a man sitting next her, all of the wizards and witches seated in the little parlour, stood up and left without saying a word.

"Whatever appalling stories my dear Draco has told you about me, I can assure you none of them are real." She said smiling graciously at Hermione, taking a glass with brown coloured liquid from the coffee table.

"N-Not at all!" Hermione managed, finding her voice at last. "I-In fact, Draco has told me only affable things about you, Mrs. Malfoy." She said with a small, polite smile, looking at Draco with eyes that pleaded help.

"Then I can assure you, they're all true. And please, call me Narcissa." She said smiling with perfect, white teeth. "I must say, you look lovely tonight Hermione, silver goes well with your features. Too bad, you were sorted into Gryffindor. I have no doubt the combination of both silver and green would've brought up your eyes." She said, and the only thing Hermione could think of was letting a nervous laugh. _Merlin, this is going to end badly…  
_

"Mother," Draco intervened and Hermione let out a sigh of relief, only his ears heard, "Hermione has expressed to me her wishes to do something about the elfs rights, planning to work at the Ministry."

"Oh, is that so?" She said looking at Hermione with interest, who only blushed at the intense stare of the blue eyes belonging to Narcissa Malfoy.

"Yes, I thought it could interest you, as you also are fond of house-elfs." He said, and Hermione looked surprised at Narcissa. _I would never have thought the wife of a blood supremacist could be fond of house-elfs…  
_

"Yes well, like Draco is saying, I am quite fond of them, but can't really do much about it, treating them with respect is by far the only thing I can do. You see, the position I'm living in and today's society forbids me from doing anything or even speak of it. Perhaps in the future, you'll be able to make some change."

"Did I told you she used to _knit_ hats for them?" Draco said with suppressed laughter, and the surprise in Hermione, caused by Narcissa's past statement, changed quickly into embarrassment.

* * *

Talking to Narcissa Malfoy was by far what Hermione had expected. The awful encounter back in their sixth grade at Madam Malkin's and the drawing room almost a year ago gave Hermione the impression Narcissa was just as bad as his husband or her sister. How wrong she was. She understood now, the cold attitude in the blond witch towards almost everyone, was caused mainly by her husband's imprisonment and son's forceful task, causing great distraught in her.

_Now that I remember how she looked back then, she even sounds like she's enjoying life now, _Hermione noted, seeing the older witch smiling with all of her teeth more often than her. It was slightly disturbing.

After some time, Hermione felt a shiver down her spine and a mild feeling of surprise and content as well. _I surely didn't feel that… _But before any of her suspicions could pass through her mind, Narcissa's sudden exclamation snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Severus! Glad you could join us at last!" Narcissa exclaimed and walked past Draco and Hermione to greet the wizards.

"My dear, you don't need to yell, you saw him at our Yule banquet." Hermione heard Lucius cold voice behind her. _I think I'm going to be sick_

"If we pretend we're not here," Draco began whispering to her when he was interrupted by his father. "Ah, Miss Granger. If I recall correctly, it's been… months since our encounter." He said with a voice as cold as an ice cube and Hermione was forced to stand up from her seat and greet the wizards. The pale face resembling the one od Draco's, stood with an impeccable attire and posture, looking at her with eyes that could kill. The wizard besides him stood taller, but his demeanor made him look less noticeable at the sight of the blond wizard. Hermione's eyes flashed for mere moments at the dark wizard and saw that, he looked healthier, but just like her, the little his mask could reveal in his eyes, showed sadness and sorrow.

"Mr. Malfoy, Professor Snape." Hermione said in the most monotone and courtly voice she had, her eyes never leaving the floor, doing the smallest half-curtsey ever in her life. _I hate to do even the smallest curtsey to any of this men, but in a party where everyone behaves themselves with such etiquette, my behaviour could pass as insolence_ _if I don't_ she sourly thought.

"Such… _interesting_ bird you got yourself for the night, Draco." Lucius said piercing the witch with his arctic eyes.

"She's no "bird for the night", she's my girlfriend." Draco said firmly, and Hermione wondered if the statement was referred solely to his father. Anger and betrayal quickly passed through her veins, and Hermione felt suddenly dizzy.

"Hermione dear are you feeling alright? You're looking rather pale; maybe some biscuits might help?" Narcissa said, with mild concern in her face.

"It's fine, I believe I drank too much sherry." She said, and Draco raised an eyebrow at her. He knew as well as she did, she'd only one cup of sherry, not even enough to make her tipsy.

"Perhaps a Vitamix Potion would be useful. I could brew one in no time, and Miss Granger would be back with full energy." Snape said Hermione looked up to glare at him.

"Oh Severus that would be wonderful," Narcissa said.

"N-no, it's fine. I don't need any potion, _sir_." She said acidly to Snape. "I believe I just need to lie down for a bit, Mrs. Malfoy." She said sweetly to Narcissa, hoping none had noticed her sour response to her professor.

"Sure thing, Draco please escort Hermione to one of our guest rooms if you please."

Draco nodded and taking Hermione's arm, they made their way outside from the ballroom, Draco not minding bumping rather hard with Snape's shoulder on their way out, without Hermione noticing. And her, suppressing the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach she felt when stepping away from the veela.

After walking through more corridors than Hermione would've liked, they finally reached a pair of jet-black wooden doors at the middle of one aisle.

"I thought the farther we went, the safer you would be." Draco said, and motioned her to enter the chamber. "Where are we?"

"My room." He said, and she gaped at the room in front of her. It was far more fashionable and luxurious than any of the hotel rooms she would sometimes see in her mother's magazines. It was a vast room, full of black furniture, wall-sized windows with black velvet drapes, and a king size four-poster bed, with curtains falling from the poster and full of pillows. The room was beautiful, yes. But Hermione couldn't help but feel the room was cold and distant. It didn't have any personal touch to it, nor it looked like it was inhabited by anyone. Impeccable and elegant as it may be, Hermione felt her Hogwarts' chambers more welcoming than this room.

"I have all of my personal possessions saved in my closet. I don't feel at home in this manor, not anymore. I'm waiting for the day I'm out of Hogwarts to build a new manor for my mother and me, free of dark magic and sins." He said, answering her silent question.

"What about your father?" She asked.

"He can go fuck himself. All of his "redemption" is just an excuse to get himself out of Azkaban; I'm sure of it. I don't believe a sodding thing he says. If he truly loves my mother and me as much as he says to live in the new manor, he should show it. I have seen none since the end of the war."

"I'm sorry Draco." She said and caressed his arm and hand in an affectionately way.

"It's okay now. I've learned to see how people really are over the years. Learned that the people who actually matter, are the ones who support and care for you even though you make mistakes. My mother, Blaise, Pansy… they all sticked with me at my toughest times. Even you, Hermione." He said grazing her cheek with his long fingers.

"Even you gave me a second chance. I remember perfectly when you told me in August, you never lost the hope of me, but you were scared of how to approach me. You also said yes to our friendship after the war, when, almost anyone else would've told me to sod off. That's when I think I truly fell for you, Granger. I knew you couldn't be more valuable with the stubbornness you have and the strong belief in second chances. And I'm sorry my father is far from being one of those people."

"Draco…" She began and was interrupted by the sudden, fierce lips of him over hers.

Shushing her down with a kiss, Draco's soft lips nibbled hers in a gentle way. Entering her mouth with his tongue, she let out a soft moan when his hand curled up into her hair, deepening the kiss. Tracing down his kissed down her jaw, he kissed her neck, and her body suddenly stiffened. "I'm sorry." He said breaking the kiss, "I totally forgot about it." He said stroking with his thumb the spot where his godfather had bit her little more than a week ago.

"It's okay." She said with a small smile, "If we can forget it's there, maybe it won't ruin the mood next time." He laughed. "I don't know about _you _Granger, but _my_ mood isn't ruined." He said.

Fireworks suddenly exploded in the outside, and from his uncovered windows, they saw flashes of colour illuminating the sky. Draco looked at the grandfather clock on his wall and saw there were few minutes left before midnight.

"Come, Granger, I know a balcony where we can have a better view."

He led her down the corridors, running like children for dessert, and she guessed they were close to the ballroom, for she heard muffled voices coming from her left.

Just outside a salon mildly occupied, they made their way, unnoticed (or so they thought) and went on the balcony.

It was the biggest balcony Hermione had ever seen, as many other things tonight, and calculated there could be easily fifty persons in the balcony, and all of them with personal space. Just on the edge of the marble railing they stood, gazing the colours in the sky, erupted by the magical fireworks.

"It's beautiful" She breathed.

More fireworks erupted and the could faintly hear the people's yellings counting down the seconds for midnight.

"I think you're beautiful." Draco said suddenly, embracing Hermione in a tight hug.

She smiled. "You don't know how happy you make me, Draco."

"Hermione, I don't care we've been officially together for mere weeks, for me it has been much longer than that." He breathed into her lips as the counting for midnight approached its end.

"Me too Draco. I feel like I can be completely myself when I'm with you." She said, dizzy from her proximity to Draco and not being able to do anything.

"I love you, Hermione." He said, his pale blue eyes beaming at her brown ones. It was the first time in her life she had felt sure of her feelings.

"I think I love you too Draco." She said, and his lips crashed with hers as everyone erupted with cheers and cries with the announcement of the New Year. Such was the commotion of the fireworks and the yells of the people, neither Draco nor Hermione noticed the glass from the balcony doors cracking in its totality. And such was the happiness Hermione was feeling, it suppressed the sudden pang of agony and anger passing through her veins when she kissed and embraced Draco with loving words.

Less they noticed, the piercing and wistful black eyes looking at them through the cracked glass of the balcony doors.

* * *

The last day of holidays and the first of the year 1999, Hermione spent her day at Grimmauld Place packing her stuff to return to Hogwarts. Harry came in at noon, with a terrible hangover and a hunger worth of a beast, falling into the first sofa he could find and refused to get up until after 5 o'clock. Hermione made a Muggle remedy for his hangover, made principally with water and salt (She had to force it down Harry's throat as he wouldn't swallow), and prepared a beef and vegetable stew, and for her poor cooking skills, it had unexpectedly tasted good. _Or maybe we were both starving. Either way, Harry can't complain, his cooking skills are way worse than mine.  
_

After Harry's complete revival from his hangover and both of their tummies full, Hermione helped Harry pack his things.

"Never let me accept one of the drink challenges the twins propose ever again, please." He said, and she arched an eyebrow at him. After explaining to Hermione how one of the challenges had resulted in him almost kissing Bill wearing only his underpants; she laughed out loud for nearly fifteen minutes.

The trip back to Hogwarts was as peaceful as much as it could be, students piled up in the train station, waiting to aboard the Hogwarts Express with their parents assured nothing will happen to them. Hermione and Harry thought about traveling by the Knight Bus but discarded the possibility almost immediately.

"Neville you're back!" Ginny said excitedly when the tall, brown-haired boy, made his way to their train compartments.

"Yeah, I figured I needed to be back this term if I wanted to do my N.E.W.T.s."

"Ron and I spoke to Lupin over the holidays. Gave us a head start on the training." Harry told him.

"Brilliant! But, I'm not sure I'll become an Auror anymore." Neville said.

"Oh? And why is that?" Hermione said, entering their compartment after the first check-up in her duties as Head Girl.

"Well, I do like the thought of catching criminals the same way my parents did, but over the holidays, Gran made contact with Professor Sprout, and she contacted me with some well-known herbologist. And I felt that's what I'm most passionate about."

"Well, if it's what you like…" Harry said.

"Don't get me wrong, I will become an Auror, but I'll also get an apprenticeship on Herbology. That way I'll have more options."

"I think it's brilliant Neville! I also thought about getting an apprenticeship on Arithmancy once I'm working at the Ministry." Hermione said, beaming at him.

"You two are mental! It's not enough having an extra year at Hogwarts but also having _additiona_l studies?" Ron exclaimed, looking back and forth at the witch and wizard with an incredulous expression.

"Oh, Ron as if you didn't know me!" She said indignantly and flicked her hair, "By any means, I came to say hello, I have to go back and make sure the first graders don't start hexing each other." She said and exited their compartment.

The first days back at Hogwarts felt quite refreshing to Hermione's opinion. The weather was as frosty as ever, the continuous gaze of Severus Snape still made her feel uncomfortable and the months for their exams were approaching. But she pushed all of the discomfort and uncertain feelings aside to enjoy her days with Draco Malfoy. _If this is what loves feels, then I don't want it ever to end…_ she dreamily thought every time she would see him. It was a feeling far from similar to what she'd felt for Ron. Like Draco, he told her he loved her mere weeks after they began dating, but the difference with Ron at that time was, she was unsure about her feelings. She started wondering if the kiss she had given him in the Room of Requirments at the war was on mere impulse caused by the adrenaline of the moment, or if she truly _felt_ that way.

Unfortunately, for her bad luck, all the happiness she had been harboring the first weeks of January, came down with the bitter occurrence one windy weekend at Hogsmeade.

"Couldn't they just _spare_ our poor eyes and stay in the castle? The Room of Requirements would've been a much more suitable place for what they were doing. Couldn't even finish my coffee in peace." Draco said, annoyed they had to leave the warmness of Madam Puddifoot's in the cold winter.

"Although I agree their... _displays_ of affection were a little over the top, you can't argue with the fact the Tea shop is the place where all couples take advantage and snog when the can't in Hogwarts,"

"They can if they know where to go." He corrected her.

"Yes, but it's nice to detach yourself from the castle once in a while."

"Do _you_ want us to be doing the same thing Potter and Weasley were doing back in the shop?" Draco asked, and her eyes widened in horror.

"Gods no! I firmly believe those displays of affection deserve solely to be transmitted in private. Harry and Ginny… they think differently."

"Granger, don't try to defend them. Everybody that saw that was disgust-" Draco stopped his tracks, and his pale face took an even whiter tone.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, and followed with her eyes, the sight Draco had seen.

A couple blocks from Three Broomsticks, a small wooden house, standing among many others, had its windows and door broken, the few plants residing outside from it were burning, and a message of sorts was painted in thick, black painting.

"The loyal will remain forever with their real master, the war for the power the genuine and pure wizards deserve has not ended yet…" Hermione whispered the words that were smeared in black painting.

A little crowd had formed around the house and neighbours were already sending letters to the Ministry, to inform of the "attack". When asked why hadn't they seen the sign before (the house seemed unoccupied for at least 2 weeks), all of the pedestrians and neighbours claimed the broken windows, fire and the message had not been there until a few minutes before the Aurors arrived.

Students were asked to return to the school immediately and were told the visits to Hogsmeade were postponed until further notice.

"I just hope the threats are over by the time we're out from school." Hermione thought out loud and felt Draco's grip on her waist tightening at her words.

* * *

**A/N: Please review and keep reading! ;***


	15. New Discoveries

_**A/N: I'm back! Hey guys, I was planning to upload yesterday but there was still too much revision left to do so here I am today. I included a new character that I just invented, so when you see the name Jovan Rosier, that's the new guy. Also there's a high possibility next chapter won't be uploaded until next week. None of my chapters is pre-written so every time I upload a new one, I start the next one on scratch.**__**So I'll take 3-4 days of leisure time to catch up on some reading, piano, and I'll start college, university, or whatever you call it next week, so don't kill me if I don't upload next chapter this week!**_

_**On the very last part of the chapter, the rose thing I got (STOLE) it from the Phantom of The Opera. So any fans out there from POTO will get the reference. I can say I'm a romantic in that way.**_

_**I want to thank you all for your nice reviews and support. And I LOVE I'm causing some confusion over the whole love-triangle thingy. I don't want to say much, but up to this point this story is STILL a Dramione one (who knows in the future ha-ha!), so hope I answered some questions with this. Also for the nice guest who reviewed, I can say this: You don't have to die hahaha. So that's everything I have to say about that.**_

_**Thank you for your reviews, please continue reviewing, reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**_

* * *

_**June 5, 1985**_

"Did you ever believe in love, Severus?" The fair witch asked him in almost a whisper, with absent and distracted eyes, not looking at anything in particular.

"Love? I always _believed_ your topics of conversation never dwelled on such petty things." He jeered in response.

"This isn't something you should be making fun of. Your last living relative just died a few days ago. As someone who knows how does it feel like to lose a relative, I can tell you your attitude towards it is not natural." She said in a stern tone, her eyes now resting on the small infant a few feet from them, blowing into flowers and transforming them into bubbles.

"Isn't it?" He said in an aloof tone, "It has been said that a person who shows their emotions is far stronger than the ones who don't. Of course, many others firmly believe the opposite."

"Don't try to patronize me, Severus."

"I'm not. I'm just stating how differently people deal with grief; I'm just different than you."

"Are you grieving?" She said, fidgeting with the hem of her spring dress.

"Not exactly, no."

"That leads to my first question, did you ever believe in love?" She asked, and her eyes moved back and forward between the dark wizard next to her, and the toddler, who now was changing the colour of his new toy every time he blinked.

"Your son will be a powerful wizard, so young and already displaying magic. It even looks like he knows what he's doing. He'll be a Slytherin for sure." He said avoiding her question a second time, looking too, at the little boy dressed in an aristocratic embroidered white shirt. _Talk to women about their bloody children and they forget everything else_ he thought acerbically.

She beamed at him and motioned the little boy to come closer. "Draco has presented signs of magic ever since he was three. Lucius was so proud when we visited his parents almost two years ago; they were impressed when he managed to make his teddy bear dance. They told us Draco will surely live up to the expectations there are for a Malfoy." She said proudly, holding the blond boy in her legs, forgetting all about her last question. _She took the bite_ he mentally thanked.

"I've noticed too, he does magic the most when he's happy. Today couldn't be any exception, could it Draco?" She said, smiling to the infant to the last part. _How could it be when there is a pile almost the size of a car of presents for his birthday? A great wizard he might become, but no less arrogant and spoiled than his father ever was, and that's for sure._ Severus mused to himself.

"Have you discussed with Lucius the prospects of a marriage contract for Draco?" He asked the witch, taking a gulp from his tea, noticing the stiffness of the witch at his words.

"Ma-ry-age? I don't want to ma-ry-age ever! I don't like _girls_, they're _boring_. I prefer books over them." The little blond's voice rose from his tiny body and he contorted his face in disgust.

"Now Draco, why won't you go to your father's office and ask him if he's ready yet?" Narcissa softly told the blond boy, putting him on the floor. "Don't even think you're safe from some girl talk you, mister! And no _running_ in the house!" Narcissa finished, almost yelling at the already gone blond. After checking he was out of sight she loudly sighed.

"Lucius has brought up the possibility ever since Draco was born. Today morning he told me he made an appointment with Cornelius Greengrass for the day after tomorrow. He has two daughters; one the age of Draco and one two years younger. He told me he'd contemplated the Parkinsons, the Browns, and MacDougals, but he considered the Greengrass family to be the worthiest for our son." She explained to him grimly.

"I don't want such contract to happen, Severus." She told him in almost a whisper, "I firmly believe in my son's judgement when the time comes, to marry a witch worthy of the position and prestige of the Malfoy name. It may have worked for Lucius and me, but what if it doesn't for him?" She sniffed. Severus passed her one of his handkerchiefs at the sight of the teary-eyed witch in front of him.

"It pains… and breaks my heart thinking of what would happen if we betrothed him to one of Cornelius Greengrass' daughters and he ends up falling in love with another girl." She said, big fat tears rolling down her pale cheeks. "What if, when he goes to school he decides he loves the daughter of the Browns instead? Or the Parkinsons'? Or the MacDougals'?" She said, her words more erratic by the second.

"Or what if, in our many trips to France he falls for one of the daughters of Lucius' friends? He didn't mention them because they're in France but… what if Severus? _What if_?" She finished, unable to contain her outburst anymore and bursted into silent tears. She cried and sobbed, her chair scooted closer to Severus, but not quite enough to touch him. She blew her nose a few times, and while her weeps were silent, it was evident she had been harbouring her sobs and sorrow for quite some time.

Severus felt uncomfortable and awkward once the witch shed her first tear. He had enough tears from his mother in his past, to be enduring more from the wife of his friend. He cursed he brought up Draco into the conversation to avoid her question; he didn't know it would turn out like this. _Fucking Lucius __**where**__ are you? I have the decency to come early for our appointment, and now I'm stuck here with his crying wife._ But he knew he couldn't just excuse himself and go to Lucius. He was a gentleman. Sort of. Even though Narcissa wasn't precisely his _friend_, he cared to an extent for the witch, and it pained him to the minimal to see her like this. _Now that I think about it, my "friends" could be counted with my first three fingers, no more._

He cleared his throat and spoke, " I'm deeply sorry for the situation you're passing through, I do." He said cautiously, trying to calm down the witch in front of him. What would Lucius say if he suddenly came into a wailing wife and his so-called friend?

"Please, Narcissa I sincerely ask you to calm yourself. You shouldn't let yourself break like this in front of other men besides your husband. It's not proper." He said with whatever words came to him first. _Fuck formalities! I just don't want to get banned from here!_

"Y-You're right." She said at once, scourgified herself and tried her best to seem composed. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen that." She took two full minutes to calm finally down and look as if nothing had happened.

"I just… don't want to see Draco unhappy in his life. I love him too much for that, Severus."

"Even to these days, marriage contracts aren't so uncommon, especially within Pure-Blood Society. I am sure he will try hard to make you and Lucius proud of his outcome." He said, trying to comfort her.

"I know, but what if it doesn't work on him? Marriage contracts are for life, Severus. Once one is signed there is no way back, and it's very difficult to disentangle yourself from one, mostly it's just passed through another family member or death. I know Draco is very stubborn when he wants and doesn't want things. Putting him in a loveless marriage contract, make take even his life, and I don't want that." She said, and she fought back the fresh tears adorning her blue eyes.

After blowing her nose on his handkerchief, she had an idea. "Severus you could… you could talk to Lucius." She said and looked at him with hopeful eyes. "You're Draco's godfather, and maybe, maybe if you talked with Lucius, he'll take off his mind the marriage contract." She said, with shiny eyes and a beaming smile, hope in her voice. "I'll talk to him too, of course, but if he has two opinions from people he cares about regarding the matter, maybe it'll be enough to change his mind."

"I'll see what I can do about it." He said in an almost monotone voice, after a long pause of thinking. "But I can't promise anything. Like father like son, Draco got his stubbornness from his father. A marriage contract is very beneficial for a pure-blood family, just like yours. It'll take time to change his point of view."

"Yes, but what about love? Isn't that important too?" She said, losing the little hope she had in her voice and Severus loudly sighed.

"Narcissa, I once loved a woman, a woman who now is gone. A woman who never loved me back. A woman who, despite my outmost efforts, preferred to dwell with the weak-minded and fool hearts. I don't believe in love. I once believed in it, but I've come to realise that love is just a fanciful hope many believe in, helping them to sleep through the nights.

"I don't want to discourage you Narcissa, but I too, feel a marriage contract would be a profitable thing for Draco. It is better to form love in something already existing than to hope for something that may never arrive, starting from scratch." He said, answering her first question. He didn't mention to her though, his decision and feelings towards love weren't only heavily influenced on Lily, but also in the fact he was a veela, and he was condemned to live a short, miserable, loveless life.

"Don't worry Severus, you didn't discourage me at all. I still believe in the love Draco might have one day for a witch, and I do too, believe you'll find it someday. But for that to happen, I can't have a marriage contract as a thorn in Draco's life. I still ask for you to try and change Lucius mind about the marriage contract if you don't mind."

"You do realise you're risking the possibility of Draco falling in love with a Half-blood witch, or even… a Muggle-Born one?" He said carefully, and she flinched at the words. Her cutting off contact completely with her sister barely thirteen years ago, caused by her marriage to a Muggle-Born wizard, still made her squirm with profound discomfort, every now and then. Never mentioning it to a single soul, she sometimes dearly missed her sister and the niece with changing hair colours she didn't know.

"I-I am very aware of that Severus." She said after a few seconds of spacing off, "But I know my son. And I know Lucius and I will raise him well enough for him to know his heart only deserves the very best of Wizarding society. I'm pretty sure he'll live up to the Malfoy expectations, and as I said before, I trust my son's future judgement." She said looking him dead in the eyes, hers looking with nothing but confidence and determination.

"Very well. I'll try my best to change Lucius' mind. It won't be easy mind you, but I admit I would too like to see my godson happy with his partner choice." He said finally.

"Thank you, Severus. I'm confident Draco will thank you for this one day." She said with a sigh of relief. He nodded before taking off to Lucius' office, finding in his way the young Malfoy heir, already with a book in hand, and a big, blood red lollipop in the other. He chuckled, _No doubt at all he'll be as arrogant and spoiled as his father._

Little did he know, he'd just made his second biggest mistake of all his life.

_**February 1999**_

Severus audibly cursed when he reached his personal chambers at Hogwarts. _Fuck this school, fuck the students and fuck my miserable life!_ He slumped back in one of his chairs and unbuttoned his black robes, revealing his white, smocklike shirt. His head hurt, and even with his veela powers he couldn't concentrate his magic well enough to subdue the pain eating him slowly day after day. They weren't even in the first week of the month, and students were already fussing on about their plans for Valentines Day.

Even in his potions class, his usual serious and scary presence wasn't enough for the students to stop them from ranting the whole class about it. And it was Every. Single. Potions. Class. He. Had. At the end of the day, he'd already given more detentions his fingers could count and more points to make each house lose more than one hundred points each. Beginnings of February, weather was getting warmer. His mood wasn't. Sure, his mood was _always_ bitter and harsh, but even the teachers began questioning what must've happened in the holidays for his mood to be worse than years before, ever since the start of the new term in January. Hermione –fucking– Granger. That was what has kept his mood on the verge of cruelty since January. No, scratch that. His mood had dropped from being normal hostile to abysmally tyrannical, since the last day of December.

As much as it's pained him, his grief had somehow suppressed some of his veela self, allowing him to be equally hostile towards Hermione in the last month. He couldn't deny that even though his veela self was "depressed" and didn't make him do any bizarre and funny things, he had to admit even to his "rational" and more logical self, the news his mate had oh-so-kindly-smeared in his face (without her knowing), had made his insides cringe with acid and hurt. It was one thing she was the girlfriend of his godson, but it was a very different thing to say _"I love you"._ His flashbacks of the night had somehow made his memory open up a flashback he though he though it was lost forgotten. The day he convinced Lucius not to put Draco in a marriage contract. _The mind always envisions the most beautiful ways to torture a person._

The memory of the dreadful night, and that sunny June the 5th of 1985, had taunted him until the very present, always making his nightmares so vivid he could almost swear he was in someone else's memories, and he was a third party, watching from afar, in a pensive. He woke up every morning unrested and tasting bile.

On his youth, there were a few years where he'd considered himself a nihilist. After Lily's death and the "disappearance" of the Dark Lord, he'd turned himself into the best friend of the alcohol. Always keeping his posture and good demeanor whenever he was in his working hours, visiting Lucius and every other death eater who he'd liked enough to keep in touch with, he never once slipped and showed improper attitude. But in the dark times he spent in solitude and darkness, empty bottles of alcohol and empty packs and butts of cigarettes would always pile up in his house and Hogwarts' chambers, reaching to the point the smell couldn't be subdued with the smell of his various potion's ingredients.

He could have called himself an alcoholic with a chain-smoking problem. But he never tried with other drugs. He wasn't stupid. Sure, he'd tried it once or twice, and given he's a Potions Master, he had access to ingredients with drug-like effects and all sorts of hallucinogens. He knew he could keep his drinking and smoking problem hidden from the world. But if he did drugs, he knew sooner or later, he would be somewhere near Knockturn Alley doing petty and odd jobs for people like Lucius, earning only enough to satiate his addiction. No, he couldn't let that happen. So he kept the drugs away from his life and confined himself in the numbness the alcohol would give him.

He'd left his drinking habits at once when he was asked by Dumbledore to keep an eye on first-year Harry and the Philosopher's Stone. He didn't want to, he totally despised it, but the thought of losing his job won over a brandy bottle.

But now, he summoned a dusty bottle from his now-opened and unchained cupboard and gave the bottle of rum a long gulp. He'd done the same the dawn of the first of January, and on his birthday, the ninth. The only difference was the amount of bottles he drank and cigarette butts on the floor; today it looked _much_ cleaner. _If I continue like this, it will be like in the eighties, too much alcohol to pretend I don't care._

Drinking the last drops of brown liquid the bottle would give, he tossed the bottle to his couch missing the pillow on it and rolling down into the floor, it broke with an audible crash. _Already drunk with only __**one**__ bottle? You could do so much better back in the day Severus. That or the bottles are getting fragile…_ he thought.

He didn't got any time to think about it, because just after he cleaned up the glass pieces, a Patronus with the form of a cat, came to his chamber and with the voice of Minerva, it said, "Please meet me in the headmasters' office as soon as you get this Severus" and just as it finished, it was gone.

Cursing, he took a Vitamix potion and did a cleaning spell on himself before he took off and met the old witch.

"I always preferred the live version of your Patronus knocking on my door, Minerva." He scorned her, annoyed he was disturbed from his somber time off. She glared at him.

"I wouldn't have bothered you if this weren't a matter of urgency Severus." She informed him tartly with pursed lips.

"May I ask what is it?" He asked, motioning her to go straight to the point. Her lips only thinned. He knew the witch liked to detail her stories and statements a great deal.

"The Aurors who investigated the empty house in Hogsmeade informed me of their discovery." She said and he raised and eyebrow at her. "One of them was in the Order." She added, answering his silent question.

"Although I don't know why they only turn to me if you are as equally a headmaster as I am." She said and he sighed.

"Minerva, as I've told you thousands of times, you're more a headmaster than I am. I wouldn't mind stepping down and just assuming my job as the Potions Professor. I can see how much more you enjoy this than me." He said and sneered at the few portraits of past headmasters, nodding or commenting in agreement.

"Don't be silly Severus. You know as well as I that I can't do this on my own. At least not yet, once the whole country is stable again, we'll talk." She stated, finishing the argument, "By any means, the Aurors found this on the inside of the house." She said and handed him a copy of what it looked like the instructions of some potion.

"It looks pretty much like a blinding potion. Only more complex and it also involves dark magic." He told her, after examining the recipe and she nodded.

"The Aurors found the house belonged to Jovan Rosier, the younger brother of Evan Rosier. They believe that after his brother died, and the press released he was linked with the Death Eaters, Jovan went into hiding. Someone in the neighborhood must've recognized him and well, he couldn't just leave without making his departure unnoticed.

"We believe he works too, as a Death Eater. Pure-blooded and good in potions he might be, but he lacks common sense. This sheet of paper left us with a clue of what are the remaining Death Eaters doing while they hide." She told him, giving the recipe a disgusted look. Severus had his eyes glued to the depleted-looking paper. _This is not only very advanced dark magic, but this potion seems new and unfinished. The question is, why were they brewing a blinding potion? _

"What I don't understand is why are they brewing this." Minerva said, after a pause, voicing his silent thoughts.

"I ask myself the same question. The only crucial and bothersome thing with this potion is that whatever it may be, it won't be cured nor reversed even with the most potent Oculus Potion." He said looking that some of the ingredients were large amounts of Giant Hogweed, a plant known to blind a person if it comes in contact with the eyes.

* * *

"The first snowless day of the year, and you won't even bother looking outside of the bloody window!" Said Ginny Weasley, angry with the brown haired witch sitting at her side in the school library, her eyes glued to the book.

"Ginny for the fiftieth time, I'm doing research." She said sighing and looked outside of the window three mere seconds before returning her gaze to her book.

"You told me that last time!" The redhead accused.

"Last time I told you I was _studying_! I'm doing some research on something entirely different today. Now if you could lower your voice please, I don't like the thought of Mdme. Pince having to scold us." She said, her eyes never leaving the enormous book.

"What are you reading anyway? It sure looks interesting enough if your nose is almost touching the paper." She said chuckling.

"Oh sorry." Hermione said moving her back a little, a pinkish colour slowly spreading on her cheeks. "Habit." She stated in an apologetic tone.

"I'm… reading about veelas." She said in a quiet voice. "I'm searching if there is some "cure" about _sensing_ each other's feelings whenever we are near." She suddenly felt very conscious of the fang marks deeply punctured where her jugular vein was, a shiver went down her spine. She also didn't look up from the book, fearing the look in Ginny's eyes might just reawaken her tears she sometimes shed in her solitary times; her neck as a reminder of how it wasn't all just a dream.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I bothered you then." Ginny replied in a small voice, her eyes glued with the same intensity Hermione had hers in the book, on the floor. On December, Hermione thought Ginny was trying to avoid speaking to her, trying to avoid talking about her ordeal. She now understood the witch didn't want to upset her, as she sometimes talked so much about boys, she didn't wish to let something accidentally slip. She later got over that phase, after much reassurance from the bushy haired witch, and tried to talk to her as if nothing had happened. Still, Ginny tried very hard not to enter with Hermione to "the danger zone", and kept her conversations as farther away from boys as possible.

"It's okay Gin, I prefer that you asked rather than just treat me like if I were made out of porcelain." She looked up at the youngest Weasley and let out a small, sincere smile."It's been a month and a half since it happened, and to be honest, not much has happened between him, and me." Actually, it surprised her. Not that it bothered her, because Gods, she preferred cold and hostile Snape a zillion times better than the awkward, Veela hormonal influenced one. But nonetheless, now that she was mildly bonded with him _–Oh Merlin why–_ she could sometimes feel a pang of angst and almost betrayal if he let his guard down.

Sure, last time she properly talked to him she had almost thrown a fit and told him she needed time to think, but she didn't remember saying anything like, "I hate you" or "I don't want anything to do with you ever again". _If i recall correctly, last time I virtually interacted with him was at the New Year's party at the Malfoy Manor. I didn't say to him anything too upsetting, then why is he intentionally cold to me?_

She had to speak to him, she liked it or not. She didn't like the thought of him suddenly dead and people blaming her for it when it was clear to Hermione it was Snape who didn't want anything to do with her anymore.

"You know, I can keep talking and talking to the bookshelf or I can just go," Ginny said exasperated at her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Uh? Sorry, I guess I dozed off a little," Hermione said.

"Have you found out anything yet?"

"No, the only discovery I made with this book… and the rest of them–" She pointed at a pile of books resting on the table, " – is that not only is exceedingly rare for a mate to "reject" the veela, it doesn't matter if it's a full blooded one or, like in my case, a quarter blooded one. Apparently, the majority as soon as they discover they're someone's mate, they happily run off with them." She said, trying not to imagine herself happily running towards Snape and dance in a flower prairie, similar to those sappy, cliché romance movies her mother liked to watch.

"Can't blame them, with the _powers_ a veela has and all, I bet the sex would be awesome," Ginny commented, without realising what she just said.

"Gin…" Hermione said, looking at her with disbelief in her face and realisation presented itself as a big blush on Ginny's cheeks, her mouth forming a perfect "o".

"Hermione I didn't mean…"

"It's fine Gin, I'm okay. The only thing you did was implant me a really disturbing mental image." She said closing her eyes, trying to shut down the past exchange of words they both had. _You know the words you just told her were nothing but __**lies**__!_ She shook her head and tried to suppress the last minutes completely.

"But back to veelas, I couldn't find anything in relation with long-term half-bonding. It says that almost all the mates take up to a maximum of a week to return the bite, it looks like leaving it up for a month is something unspeakable here." She let her face fall in defeat into her book, her hair covering the pages of it.

"Hey, it's not that bad. As long as you don't feel attached to him it's going to be okay." _But the thing is, I don't know anymore!_ "What if you talked with Fleur? Not only is she a quarter veela, but almost her whole family is of Veela descendants. I'm sure she'll be able to tell you things you can't find in books." She said patting her back.

"Remus told me the same thing back in Christmas. I was going to, but I panicked and well, it'll have to wait until we can go to Hogsmeade to invite her and talk about it."

"Remus?" Ginny said in startled tone, taking out a blood red sugar quill from her pocket and started licking it.

"His… wolfish heightened senses made him able also to smell the pheromones of Snape at Three Broomsticks. Although they don't affect him the same way they do to me of course, he also felt his venom in my skin in Christmas. He only had to put two and two together and he knew my position in the whole thing." She sighed, and her eyes now focused on the candy her friend was chewing on. "Hey, we're not supposed to eat here!" She hissed at her.

"Oh calm your knickers! _I'm_ not reading anything, and nothing will happen if she doesn't know about it." She told her with a mischievous smile, her lips already sticky, shiny red from the candy.

"Speaking about Valentine's Day," She said changing topics, "What are your plans for it? Now that Draco is your _boyfriend_, I'm sure you have juicy plans for the day." She said wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but stress is consuming me, and I haven't got the enough time to think about it." Her hands went to her hair. "I'm jealous of your relationship Ginny." She said after a pause.

"Oh? How so?" She asked in surprise, half lollipop stuck in her mouth.

"Not in the way you're thinking! No, I'm jealous of how happy and care-free you already are. You have a boyfriend, you both love each other, and there's no threat whatsoever coming at your way." She responded longingly. "I have too much to think about this year. Not only I'm turning twenty, but I have exams, I want to apply for a good job at the Ministry, maybe I want an apprenticeship, and I'm a veela's mate!"

"Feeling old already? You're about to be _twenty_, and life's already catching up to you? Unbelievable." The witch said shaking her head.

"It's not _that_ bad Ginny. And you turn eighteen this year! We're almost the same age!"

"Really? Because I think I can see a small wrinkle forming right at the corner of your eye already." The redhead teased her, laughing.

"Oh shush it! And you never told me what are _your_ plans for Valentine's day."

Despite the broad grin on the youngest Weasley, her cheeks and ears turned the same shade as her sugar quill.

* * *

Valentine's day came, and the small feeling of bitterness Hermione sometimes felt had somehow increased like a wave of an ocean. It bothered her that not only they weren't her feelings, but it was also a constant reminder of _who_ was feeling those feelings and why.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there for your birthday Luna, but I hope you liked my gift," Hermione said to her at breakfast on Sunday morning. The blond Ravenclaw sometimes would pop in and eat with the Gryffindors, liking them much better than any of her Ravenclaw peers.

"Don't worry about it Hermione, I know you were tired and you couldn't make it. And I loved the bracelet you gave me, look I'm wearing it now!" She said and rattled her wrist to show her the white gold bracelet, shining with the early sun rays the windows of the Great Hall let in.

"I'm again sorry," Hermione said blushing. She'd spent almost all of her Friday night, along with Draco, chasing some fourth-year students, who were provoking Peeves. Reassuring McGonagall they had it under control, they had chased almost until dawn, a pair of Slytherins with a Ravenclaw, and a laughing Peeves. They both slept in until late hours in the afternoon of the thirteenth, and with frantic thoughts of her unfinished homework, she couldn't make it to Luna's small party held in the Room of Requirements.

"Blaise gave me a pair of earrings, which I'm wearing now," She said showing them her red rosebud earrings, "And a book of Magical Creatures." She said dreamily towards the Slytherin table, where neither the half-italian wizard nor his best friend, sat yet. Both Hermione and Luna knew they weren't morning persons, and if they could avoid it, they would sleep in through most of the morning.

"Blaise asked me if I could be his valentine. He's taking me to Hogsmeade I think." She said in her usual dreamy tone. Visits to Hogsmeade were resumed this weekend, on a petition by students to let them visit Hogsmeade on Valentines day. Snape had bluntly refused to give them the privilege and McGonagall thought the opposite. So Hogsmeade visits were resumed only by students who were already legal of age, to the discomfort of the majority of the pupils.

"What are you doing for the day, Hermione?" The blond witch asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean –of course, I'll spend the day with Draco, but we haven't thought about it." She said returning a chocolate box from a second-year admirer, an owl dropped her.

"What'll will you do Neville?" Luna asked him, who was too concentrated on his cereal to pay attention to their previous conversation.

"Oh, I…" He started and a light blush began spreading on his cheeks. "I thought I would ask Hannah Abbott." He said with nervousness in his voice. "She's also splendid in herbology, and we have a lot of things in common, so I though I would ask her out as soon as I finish breakfast."

"I'm sure she'll say yes Neville," Hermione said standing up from the table, and after saying a goodbye to Luna and wishing Neville good luck, she made her way to her chambers.

"We could snog senseless all day long in the common room, or in the Room of Requirements, or in Hogsmeade, or near the lake… We could also visit Hogsmeade and then snog senseless until our lips finish with a lovely purple shade. You choose." Draco told her, almost panting and breathing into her lips. As soon as she opened the door of their chambers, he'd pinned her against the nearest wall and while his hands were in her hair and his lips against hers, the books she was carrying lay on the ground.

Her mind started to get fuzzy, and her senses felt all wobbly when she inhaled his scent and tasted the sweet flavour his lips gave her. "So it doesn't matter what do I choose, we'll snog senseless in the end?" She asked him and he responded with a kiss that left her already swollen lips, a darker shade of pinkish red colour.

"Of course Granger. It's Valentines day! Unless… you want to do _other_ things besides snogging, hmm?" He said with a wicked smile on his lips, which were puffy too, and a twinkle in his eyes.

She slapped him lightly on his arm. "Draco! Take your mind out of the gutter! I meant visiting Hogsmeade! Although," She paused, biting her lower lip, "I don't mind the snogging part." She grinned at him. He laughed and spooned her around the room, her squeaking reaching the ears of Crookshanks, who merely scoffed at them, and returned to Hermione's room.

"I Love you." He said and their lips touched tenderly.

* * *

Being one of the last all-wizarding communities in all of Britain, Hogsmeade wasn't exactly the most exciting of places. And even less with the lack of students of Hogwarts, the majority of them being underage. The misfortune of almost a month ago, left the little town with a bitter taste. Many were ashamed they didn't recognize Jovan before, and others claimed they indeed had never seen him before, and it was most probable he'd acquire the house recently.

But having survived already two wars in the past century, the little misfortune almost two months ago, didn't stop the civilians from celebrating with joy Valentine's Day.

Going to Madam Puddifoot's not only seemed too cliché for the occasion, but even though there wasn't going to be an overflow of students, many young and older couples would certainly visit the Tea shop with their respective sweethearts today.

Draco led them to a small restaurant in a not-so-known area for students in Hogsmeade. The name was "Jenkins n' Bakin'" and from the inside of it, looked like the coziest kitchen ever in Hermione's eyes (it was debatable with the Burrow's kitchen, but still). As they entered, he told her that before he entered Hogwarts, his mother would take out him to lunch here when his father was at a meeting, or had too much work. "I know it doesn't look like a place my family would visit," He said sitting down at a table, "But my mother used to come here, in her Hogwarts' years. My aunt –Andromeda– used to visit her when there was a Hogsmeade weekend. She graduated a couple of years before my mother did, and she took her out to eat here. Of course, it was before she married Ted Tonks and lost all contact with her. She told me her last meal was a week before she announced her engagement." He said and paused to take a sip from the glass of water a waiter magically transported to their tables.

"Not only in your family, but in general, there are times where tradition is so important, that it breaks and tears apart entire families. The youngest ones being the most affected, having nothing else but to follow the rules." She told him sympathetically, her eyes scanning the menu in front of her. _Maybe a pasta… something that doesn't leave me with bad breath…_

"Even though she doesn't talk about it, I can see in her eyes and sudden but revealing face expressions that she misses her dearly. Whenever the Dark L– I mean Voldemort, or any other Death Eater would talk about them, her lips would unconsciously tremble. In one of the few days I went to Hogwarts to help, she came with me, and I saw from afar she talked briefly to Lupin. Must've told him her condolences about Nymphadora."

"Why doesn't your mother approach your aunt again? The war is supposedly over..."

"We know it. She knows it. But is not that simple Granger, difficult as it was for me to reject everything I was raised to believe, she has too, to break those barriers. And not only that, but Pure-Blood Society can be cruel, even with each other. If someone, even my father, was to find out she made contact again with my aunt, there will be no mercy for it. Death Eaters are still roaming around, she's waiting for there to be real peace to speak to her again." He finished.

After Draco's mild confession about his family, they ate in peace, talking about parts of their lives they didn't know about each other, Hermione also explained to him some Muggle appliances and how they worked (earning a surprising range of emotions on his face), and he told her about his family, his visits to France and many other countries. When she told him about her parents, wondering what are doing right now, he joked that they would be probably petting kangaroos.

"Draco they're dentists. And they've been living for little more than a year in Australia, I seriously doubt they're petting kangaroos right now." She said laughing.

"Hey, we live in England and you still pet stray cats you see on the streets and don't deny it because I've seen you do it." He said and she blushed.

After a pleasant meal, Draco, again, led the way and they walked on the snowy grounds of Hogsmeade, away from the houses and nearer to the little trail beside the forest and the Shrieking Shack.

"Does it ever go away?" He suddenly asked, stopping his tracks and looked at her.

"What?" She said and his long fingers tucked one of her curls in her ear.

"The feeling of being trapped. Of knowing you can't be truly happy because you have a heavy weight on your shoulders." He answered, and his fingers traced the outline of her cheekbone, going down to her jawline, and finally resting on the spot of her neck where she was bitten.

"No, it doesn't." She said bitterly, closing her eyes at the cold touch of Draco's fingers in her skin. "I can try pretending it never happened or the fact I actually have fang marks on my neck," She laughed humourlessly, "But as much as I try, the tiny feeling always pricks the farthest corner of my head, always making its way into my conscience to finally taking residence in my waking life."

They walked back to the castle quietly. It had been a sweet Valentine's Day for both of them, but they knew their happiness was limited to an extent. _You can never be too happy about something,_ She sourly thought as they were climbing the main, almost deserted stairs. Too distracted they were, to notice the black, menacing figure standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for them to see him.

"Thanks, Merlin I finished my Arithmancy essay, I certainly do need sleep." She said yawning.

"_We_ need sleep–," He said and his pale eyes turned glacial at the sight of his godfather.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger–" "What do you want?" Draco cutted him off, _Draco he's still our teacher!_ She frantically, though, hoping he would read her mind with his Legilimens skills.

"Twenty points from Slytherin Mr. Mafloy, and don't challenge me to take _more_." He said, his eyes holding the same coldness Draco's had. "Now, I came here to inform you; you have an urgent message. If I'm correct, I believe a third-year took it to your chambers. If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time in retrieving it."

Draco looked like he wanted to duel him, but with a soft touch in his arm from Hermione and a words of reassurance "Go, I'll be fine", calmed him down enough to go and look for his message.

"And you Miss Granger, Professor McGonagall needs you to meet her at the headmasters' office, as soon as you got the message. I shall escort you." He said to her and motioned her to start walking.

"Thank you very much for the message sir. But I can assure you I certainly can escort myself ." She said curtly and started walking. She only stopped when he heard his soft sarcastic laugh, closer to her. _How is it that he's so fast and silent?_

"Funny as it may be, coincidently, I'm required at the meeting too. It's only convenient we go together." He said in a wicked tone. Hermione was sure he'd somehow planned all of it.

"Very well." She said in a whisper and they walked together.

"We haven't talked properly since the day… of the ball you know." She said, finally breaking the deadly silence surrounding them. The tension was killing her.

"No, we haven't. You told me to give you time and I did. But I no longer believe time is necessary, you looked very pleased with your choice." He said sneering and she blushed. _Wait, why am I blushing?_

"Severus," She said using his first name and they both stopped. "It's not a matter of "if I'm happy with my decision now" but more like, you broke my confidence."

"You knew how quickly I could lose control. Your actions of that day only encouraged the veela within me to act without reason. If someone is to blame in the misshapen, it shouldn't be only me." He said looking fiercely at her eyes.

"I'm not saying the blame is all yours, but that day at the ball, I told you my relationships had nothing to do with our meetings, you should've understood it. And you lost control and bit me against my will. Having to _sense_ your emotions is not what bothers me the most, but the fact that you crossed the thin line between what is correct and what it isn't."

Moments passed, maybe even minutes. After watching the witch with melting snowflakes on her hair and fierce almond-shaped eyes, he just said, "Fair point." And continued walking, as if nothing had happened between the two.

Arriving at the headmasters' office, Snape led her into the room first, without any word and Hermione met herself with seven pairs of eyes. Draco looked furious and as soon as she entered he got closer to her and whispered in a tone only she (and possibly Severus) could hear "I came to our chambers finding that the significant message was a meeting with McGonagall." He said and with a fierce glare at Snape, he returned at his place.

She looked up and saw three pairs of eyes full of concern when she arrived alone with Professor Snape. Giving them a small smile of reassurance, she looked around to see the remaining unconcerned eyes. She saw Minerva, Ron, and surprisingly, Neville. They all stood in a half circle, surrounding the wooded pine desk.

"I'm sure you're all aware the message in Hogsmeade a month ago," She started "Well, the Order and Aurors have found the house belonged to Jovan Rosier, the younger brother of now-dead Death Eater, Evan Rosier. We are not entirely sure Hogsmeade is safe for the trips to be resumed, nor what exactly are the remaining Death Eaters up to," She said and looked at all of them, their faces serene and attentive,

"But we know for a fact, they are doing a very powerful and dark blinding potion." She finished and handed them the copy of the Potion instructions they found in the burnt house.

"There had been already four attacks in what is only Scotland. Three wizards were transported immediately after what they believed, someone spiked their drinks without them noticing, and they drank it, leaving them completely blind.

"We don't know why they are doing it, but not only they're being unnoticed, but also the potion is so strong we believe there might not be a cure for it."

"Have they noted any after effects the potion might have?" Hermione asked, her heart thumping.

"No, they told us the healers were still doing diagnostic charms and so to see what they're dealing with. Many Order members are too busy, so I ask you to make a personal copy of these ingredients and try to reason and research in your free time, to try and come up with what it may be or a theory of why are they using it." They all nodded and she dismissed them.

"Oh please, Neville, Draco, Ginny and Luna stay here for a moment. Harry Ron and Hermione are already official members of the Order, but you aren't. I know you're still in school, but I think it's time to make yourselves announced to the other members. And please, watch your drinks from now on." She said as the Golden Trio made their way out of the office.

Reaching their dorms, Hermione lazily made her way to her room and greeted her half-kneazle cat with a big hug and a cookie she had in her pocket. Turning her head towards her vanity, she thanked Draco wasn't yet in the dorm because the almost-scream she did was enough to scare Crookshanks out of her room.

Carefully placed in the middle of the table, a single blood red rose with a black ribbon tied to it sat, with it's beautiful petals looking like velvet. What scared her wasn't the rose, but the small note next to it. In black, thin ink, four words were written in the small parchment with the same handwriting of her birthday poem.

_**Happy Valentine's Day, Hermione**_

* * *

**A/N: I just feel the mistakes I probably will have on this chapter and I'll correct them. I didn't realise it until I almost finished the chapter, but I believe there are**** a lot of family feels on this one, especially on Narcissa's part. Please tell me your thoughts, questions, etc. about this chapter! I love bacon pancakes and I'll see you hopefully next week ;)**


	16. A Solution?

**A/N: Hello, first, I want to apologise. I know I said in some of the last chapters, I wouldn't be later than two weeks and I know I've taken I think almost three weeks to upload. I'm sorry. Before one week after I uploaded last chapter went by, I had nearly half of this chapter, but two things happened. First, I just started with the university, and let me say this to the ones who haven't experienced it yet. It's hard, and I know many of you whom already passed it or are in the middle already know this. There are too many articles and books to read so I haven't had the enough time to concentrate fully on this chapter.**

**Second, I just got out from a severe episode of depression. I thought I'd depression before in my life, and I know many of us had too, but let me say this. It is nothing like I imagined. I felt like shit, while I thought to write helped me with depression, I wanted to do nothing and I almost did some pretty nasty things to myself. But I'm glad to say I'm out of it (or so I think), and I'm back to writing. I'll try with all my might to upload next chapter faster, and I can say that even though it is less than 500 words, every day I've been adding something to the story, so this is far from getting "forgotten".**

**And lastly, I can say that I'm very happy with how many positive reviews I've had about this story, and also that you guys are liking it. Seriously, thank you for reading it.**

**And some things from the actual story, hehe. First, I know I haven't included much Severus in the last chapters (in the next one there'll be much about him), and his appearance is going to decrease for some...6-7 chapters more-less, and THEN it'll increase and Draco's will decrease... and then it's going to be all about both of them again. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, and I won't just cut off any character no, but from the way the plot is going, it's unstoppable they don't make a big appearance in some chapters. So please be patient! Believe when I'm telling you I know what I'm doing. Oh and one more thing, for the ones who've noticed, I swapped the Quidditch matches. I made the mistake in the first chapters but I decided to leave it like that :)**

**Sorry for the long A/N, but I hope you review, keep reading and enjoy.**

**P.S. I'm uploading at 2 am, I'm VERY tired and I know this will have some nasty grammar mistakes. I'll correct them when I wake up ;)**

* * *

"Happy birthday Ron!" Cheered many Gryffindors while others lightly sang the chorus of "Weasley is our King" when the youngest Weasley boy blew out the candles on his home-made cake Luna had made for his birthday.

Although having a peculiar aftertaste on it, the chocolate cake with bright blue frosting and flaming red lanky letters on it, was praised by everyone.

"The secret ingredient is one of my aunt's inventions. It never ceases to surprise new tasters! Although, I would advise you to stay away from any berries for the next couple of hours, unless, of course, you would like to have a blue lizard's tongue for a day that is." Hermione heard Luna say. She was talking in her usual dreamy tone, to a fifth year Gryffindor, whose face had turned a very pale shade of colour, and seemed to have trouble swallowing the chunk of cake he chomped mere seconds before Luna's warning.

Hermione looked with amusement the exchange of the petite witch and the boy with dismay on his face. It was a Monday, and everyone had agreed to have a nice, small, birthday reunion in the Gryffindor common room the day of Ron's birthday, to save the weekend for Quidditch practice. Neither Harry nor Ron was on the team anymore, but the war had merrily caused House union even more than previous years. So instead of celebrating his birthday along with every Gryffindor, who could go to Three Broomsticks with butterbeer on the weekend, they agreed they would instead cheer the Gryffindor team in their last week before the match. The match against Slytherin was rapidly approaching, and they didn't want to waste any minute of practise. It would be one of the deciding matches, and the thought of having Gwenig Jones watching the last match was enough to put Ginny on the edge with every single practice.

It didn't matter the game wasn't until almost two weeks from that day, nor the fact they were celebrating Ron's nineteenth birthday, Ginny's mood was nerve-racking and not only did the team members suffer, but everyone close to her did as well.

Hermione watched from afar Harry's arms enclose gently the fuming Gryffindor captain before Ritchie Coote's head was cut off.

One hand was caressing her left arm while the other was stroking her hair, his lips moving close to her ear; Ginny visibly calmed. _He must really love her_. Hermione thought, and she sighed.

"So 'Mione," Ron asked her while sitting next to her, opening a Butterbeer bottle, giving it a sip, "what did you get me for my birthday?"

"And what makes you think I got something for you?" She said teasingly.

"Because you're Hermione Granger. You always care about people." He said flashing her one of the smiles she was so fond of. "And you can't lie." He finished with a laugh and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine, you win. Here," She said taking out a small parcel out from her bag and gave it to him, " I didn't have much time to wrap it up, but I hope you like it."

"What is it?" He said opening the parcel and handling the tiny golden compass-like object on his hand, looking at it with awe.

"It's a Safetyscope. It's similar to a sneakoscope, only that it spins and shines when you're in an area you consider completely safe. If you press this button," She said monitoring his finger to a small button on the little device, "And you let a tiny blood drop in here, whenever you press the button, it'll spin and shine when you're in an area there isn't something you consider a threat. I thought it would help now that you're becoming an Auror and all." She said with a smile

"Hermione, thank you." He said, and her smile became an awkward one. She suddenly felt the thick and burning weight of his hand still resting on hers.

"Ron…"

"Oh Sorry," He said and removed his hand from hers, his eyes never leaving her.

"Its okay," She said but still felt uncomfortable; the fierce, blue orbs piercing through her.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out for us." He suddenly blurted out, "I… sometimes imagined us as eighty-year-olds with many granddaughters and sons, along with Harry and Ginny."

"I'm sorry too," She said placing her hand on his shoulder "And we can still do that, the only difference would be that the grandchildren won't be ours." She said with a small smile.

"I think I still feel something for you 'Mione, but I know it'll never happen ever again. And well, remember the Hufflepuff girl? I tried something with her… Gina was her name?" Ron said rubbing his head and twisting his face; he sighed. "Well I don't remember exactly if that was her name but anyways, I realised I'm not entirely over you, and I'm trying." He said looking up at her with a small smile. "I'm trying 'Mione."

"Hey, it's your birthday! And I don't want to see you down. Have you tried Luna's cake yet?" She said standing up, not bearing to be any second longer in the suddenly awkward conversation she found herself with Ron.

* * *

Sitting in a vase with water on her vanity, the blooming rose had no signs of wilting. Hermione didn't know if it was charmed, but the hybrid tea blood red rose was as exquisite, if not more, than the day she found it sitting with a black ribbon on her vanity.

An aching feeling always crept inside of her every time she saw the flower, but she just didn't have the heart to tear and throw away such blossom. Crookshanks stayed at her side when she shed overwhelming tears of melancholy the night of Valentine's Day. He'd silently comforted her when lucid tears ran down her cheeks when her fingertips touched the velvety petals of the rose. It had made her somewhat protected and uncertain about her thoughts.

She had to put a notice-me-not charm on the flower when Draco finally came in, saving herself questions they both knew the answer to.

She hated it, but she also had to lie to him, telling him the news about the Death Eaters had brought back memories of her parents, not bearing to look up at him; he didn't need Legilimency to know she was lying. His eyes could strip every trace of lie in hers, she didn't want to risk it.

_"If it makes you feel better, I also felt like I lost my father in the war. I'm not sure when, but at some point it felt like he was my father no longer, and he was only a person yearning and needing more power." He paused and kissed the top of her head, stroking her soft, silky curls, "His needing for acceptance from Voldemort reached the point he needed also to stand out even more from the Wizarding society. A man consumed by his greediness he became." He said, hoping he would be able to comfort her, he may have a mother, but his father was equally lost as her parents. For different reasons, but still. _

"_Draco…"_

She felt not only wrong about her lying to him but also felt guilty he was now opening up to her about his family problems, and she couldn't do the same with her feelings. At first, her rational part of her brain made her come up with the most logical explanation of her ambiguous feelings. She'd thought for a moment she might be suffering a severe case of Electra's complex, but discarded it almost immediately. Not only was she interested in boys _strictly_ her age or slightly older, but she was also confident she didn't feel a sense of rivalry with her mother. And it was one-hundred percent clear to her that neither Draco nor Severus _–Gods, it's Snape! Let's stick with his last name!–_ is similar to her father. Not even in the minimal.

Then, of course, now that her rational self was out of possible explanations for what in the name of Merlin was wrong with her, it was now the time of her sensitive self to take over the situation. Time to panic.

Before she had time to hyperventilate, she'd unconsciously walked across her room and to the vanity, to graze the petals with her fingertips, remembering the peace she always felt when she did it. She almost slapped herself when she realised what she was about to do.

_This can't keep up. I will be a complete lunatic before I realise it. Not only am I getting less sleep, this has consumed almost all of my free time, and not only that, I won't get as many N.E.W.T.s if I become an underachiever at the cause of a silly mishappen!_ She meditated in her head her possibilities for a week, and when she was certain the library would give her as much knowledge as with the same she started with, she knew she had to owl Fleur.

_**Fleur,**_

_**I believe I have reached the point where the only source to prevent madness is by talking to you.**_

She ripped the paper. She didn't want her only hopeful help to be scared or offended by her. So she started again,

_**Fleur,**_

_**This may sound sudden, and I know we've never exchanged letters before, but I need your help, urgently. But first, how are things over there? How is your life with Bill going? And second…The main reason I am writing to you is because I just can't find any knowledge on the subject I'm searching in the books, and the only hope I have left is you.**_

_**There have been some… incidents… over the past months where the decisions I'll make may drastically affect my future. Due to the situation I find myself in, the information I have found in each and every book in the library about the matter has been futile. I believe your family history and your knowledge may help with the issue I have. You see, I would prefer us to talk in person, but due to the urgency of the matter, this can't wait any longer. I know you're a quarter veela, and I also know your blood is inactive, and that's why you have such a splendid and healthy relationship with Bill. **_

_**Well, I know a veela who's also a quarter veela, but his blood is active.**_

_**It also happens, I'm the mate of the above-mentioned veela. Yes, I am the girlfriend of Draco and no, he isn't the veela. It's more complicated than that.**_

_**I wanted to discuss with you the whole rejection-acceptance deal with veelas and what happens when a mate has been bit by one, but it has been almost three months since the bite and there hasn't been any interaction at all with them.**_

_**I know it may sound confusing, and I'm beginning to ramble, but I'm in serious need for help. And I know you're the only one I know who can halp me because, even though you're not an active veela, many of your family members are o were. And you might know the information I need the books won't give.**_

_**I also want to discuss how the feelings of the mate and the veela are involved in all of this, but what I want to discuss is much more extense and complicated to put on paper.**_

_**Please write to me as soon as you can,**_

_**Hermione**_

_There, now I hope she doesn't see me as some degenerate. _She thought as she laid down her quill.

With many efforts, she made her way to the Owlery. Being beginnings of March, the little snow left was slowly melting away, making the path to the Owlery the most slippery of the whole year. Carefully reaching the entrance of the Owlery, Hermione could see the pointy end of the Astronomy Tower. _Could it be that easy if I just end it all? _She mused to herself and shook her head. _Come on Hermione, do you honestly care so little about your life?_ "In the worst case scenario, I could run away and live like my great-aunt Annabell. Away from the world like a hermit." She murmured to herself. _Now that I think about it, the last time I heard from her, I was seven._

Filled with all different types of owls, Hermione made her way to a far, top end in the tower, where the familiar snow-white owl cozily rested.

"Hey, Hedwig." She said petting the owl with her finger, waking it up.

"Harry told me I could borrow you whenever I needed to send a letter… and I need you to send this to Fleur Weasley. Could you do it?" She politely asked, and the owl blinked at her and affectionately bit her finger, as a way of agreeing.

"Thank you." She said and tied the letter to one of her legs.

Watching Hedwig through one of the windows of the Owlery, Hermione took one last glimpse at the Astronomy Tower with a blue look and exited the Owlery. "Bummer."

What she didn't expect to find on her way back to the castle, were the curious-as-ever crystal blue eyes of Luna observing her.

"Where you merely passing by, or were you watching and waiting for me?" Hermione asked in a jokingly tone, but internally hoped it wasn't the latter.

Luna giggled at her. "I sometimes think you can be funny Hermione." She said, and Hermione didn't know if she should be offended or not. " But it's neither. I was passing by, and I saw you, so I waited here for you to come back. I wish to speak with you."

"Oh." Was all Hermione could manage at her surprise.

They started walking through the empty halls of the castle, both hairs shining with the amber light of dawn.

"What did you–" "How are you, Hermione?" Luna asked her before she could ask what did she wanted to talk about.

"Me? Well, I've been fine I guess. Nothing has happened much in these past months. Just trying to get throughout the day and study for our N.E.W.T.s you know? I have to start doing studying schedules soon." She said nervously. But in truth, nothing _had_ happened much since December. And she wasn't sure she if liked it or not. The red rose almost made her faint, but besides that, it was almost as if nothing had happened in the first place. Too bad she wasn't the only one with memories that proved it all happened. Memories proving it wasn't a twisted bad dream she had.

"You don't seem well. Healthy, maybe, but I can definitely sense you're not only uncomfortable with how you are right now, but also you seem a tad afraid."

"Afraid? Luna, I don't even know what you're getting at. Afraid of N.E.W.T.s I am. Afraid of something else I…" She stopped her tracks noticing she did in fact not own any valid explanation for her answer.

"I told you before I mean no harm. And you very well know what I'm talking about. And like my mum used to say, "It doesn't matter how grisly truth might be, what matters is a conscious clean".

They stayed quiet for a bit, Hermione letting Luna's words sink deep into herself, deciding whether or not confess how minimal she missed Sev –_Professor Snape's_ company in the few meetings they had.

"I'm going to tell you a story. And I would like your opinion at the end of it." Luna said suddenly as if reading her mind, and they made their way and sat on a stone bench, beneath one of the torches on the walls.

"Some nineteen, twenty years ago, in Northern Ireland, a young witch, had the same problem you have now. In the small town of Baile na gCroíthe, or Ballygrot, there is a relatively large population of wizards. To put it this way, there are more Wizards than Muggles. Next to the little town, a small settlement of veelas resides, even to this day.

The young witch fell in love with a tourist she met one day. He was also a wizard, merely looking for interesting things in such interesting town. They both fell in love but were met with misfortune, as they both weren't financially well, so she couldn't go and live with him just yet. He promised he would return to her with the enough money to take her away and build themselves a nice house in Devon. Months passed, and as she waited patiently for his love to return, she didn't notice at the time she had caught the attention of a part veela. A veela who lived with his family, secluded from the veela community, for having mingled with wizards.

"The veela, being who he was, tried with all his might, to catch the witch's attention. She was his mate. Long after they met, she finds his true identity and what role she played in it. She was devastated.

Many months passed, and still, her lover didn't return, so she accepted and started "dating" the veela, even going as far as letting him bite her. After some time, she also fell in love with him. But by a twist of fate, one night before she accepted bonding with the veela, her lover returns and exclaims to her they now can happily get married, as he finally built them a decent place to live.

The witch, now broken on the inside, tries to convince her lover to stay a few months before they depart, hiding the fact she was a veela's mate.

But the witch, honest as she was, couldn't resist her guilt and explained to her lover the situation she was in.

Broken-hearted, her lover understands and tells her she shouldn't refuse the veela. If she is his mate, then it's her destiny. The witch is torn by this statement because not only she is in love with a part veela, but she also loves the tourist, her lover.

"After much thinking, she comes to the decision to stay with the veela, for the best, only to find out she is pregnant and carrying her lover's child. Of course, she tells this to the veela, and he doesn't have any option other than to let her go."

"T-the veela let her go? Can he do that?" Hermione stuttered after moments of silence, listening to Luna's story.

"Of course he could. He loved her; she was his mate. He would do anything for her welfare. He also understood her love was for both, and he knew if he stayed with her he wouldn't only make her lover miserable, but also her and her unborn child. So he let her go."

"And what happened to them?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"The veela died shortly after, of a heartbreak, the couple married as her lover promised, they moved to the house in Devon, and soon after, their child was born."

There was a pregnant pause then, and Hermione analysed the information Luna just gave her, putting the pieces together in her mind. When realisation was slowly sinking into her, he dared to ask, "Luna, you told me your mother was Irish…"

The witch with pale skin and electric icy blue eyes nodded at her, with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yes, yes she was."

* * *

He wasn't in a good mood. He wasn't up to any games or jokes his peers made about, or with, him. He was pissed, and it was all his godfather's fault.

Ever since the ball, and the –unspeakable incident he felt his breath going away–, Hermione looked sadder, and the usual spark of her quirky, stubborn self, seemed to be fading slowly. Draco didn't exactly knew what had she and Snape talked about, when the greasy bat sent him alone to his chambers, only to find out he too, needed to go to the headmasters' office, but he knew it wasn't good news. Not in the least.

She spaced out more often in the hallways, she bit her lips to the point they had an almost permanent, although quite lovely, purplish tone in them, and even though she was still the best in the year, she wasn't as fast raising her hand in classes like the way she did.

Always seeming distracted, and, he even dared himself think, fearful of something. The stars he would always gaze and get lost in her eyes weren't as bright as they were other days. He wanted to speak to her, because, she might have talked about it to some degree, but he knew she was still hurting.

"Hermione." Her first name came out of his lips at the moment he saw her enter their common room.

"Hmm? What is it?" She asked with concern painted on her face_. Must've taken her out of the blue with my use of her first name,_ he thought.

"Why won't you sit with me? It's been weeks, if not months, which we haven't spent some time together reading by the fire like we used to." A flashback from one of the very first of many precious moments they had crossed his mind. He realized that the affections he had for the witch may have even started before he knew it.

"_Granger, I swear, if I see you with more than five different books in your hands a week, my eyeballs might just pop out from my face." Draco told her. They were at the night, deep in the dungeons, patrolling for any out-of-bed-student who thought it was best to wander off in the school. They were near the few disused classrooms there were left. Being the coldest ones in the whole school, even more than the Potions lab and the Slytherin common room, past headmasters decided they were no longer for use, and the tradition still carried on._

_"You don't have to see them. I'm not forcing you to read or see every single book I'm reading. Besides, at the time no one comes by here, I can use it to my advantage and start studying for my O.W.L.s" She said without looking up to Draco. She was sitting on the floor, with a book on her lap, and her wand illuminating the empty hallway with __Lumos Maxima._

_"Granger, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in FEBRUARY. Almost five months until we have to do them! I'm not worrying about them, and not only do I have nearly every subject you're also taking, but my grades are one of the best of the whole year!" He exclaimed and picked up one of the books on the floor, scoffing at how many book separators her __Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5__ had and she blushed, barely noticeable in the dim light her wand provided. _

"_Y-You can never be too sure! And for your information, I'm too tired and too cold to be studying right now, so I'm doing some light reading." She said almost indignantly, and Draco had to do significant efforts not to snigger at her "light reading" she had on her lap, a book of no less than seven hundred pages._

"_I don't believe many students like the idea of wandering off in the dungeons at this temperature, but I do believe some of these empty classrooms have a fireplace installed. Care to take a look?" He asked with a sly smile, and she looked sideways before she threw a piercing look at him. "And I not only believe but am sure you and your books would be more bloody comfortable next to a fireplace than in the floor." He said with mild superiority in his tone, and he heard her sigh, in agreement. _

"_Fine, but if there's anyone outside and gets caught by someone else, I will not be the one punished by the toad!" She said standing up, picking up her books on her way._

"_Please, Umbridge __loves__ me." He grinned at her, showing all of his white teeth. "As long as she worships the ground my father steps on, if you stick with me, you'll be out of trouble."_

"_If she __loves__ your father, and you like you say she does, then you can tell him to say to her to stop this nonsense about patrolling this part of the castle which clearly looks like no one has stepped on it… for __decades__!"_

_The walked a few meters, deeper into the dungeons, and they found themselves with classrooms bigger than their usual ones, and by consequence, much colder. Draco wondered about how the halls and classrooms looked so… unused. Yes, it was the coldest, creepiest and most hunted place of the whole castle, but it was the perfect place for anything either illegal or… anything really. __Might as well bring Pansy here someday… if she doesn't act like a cry baby of course._

_"Hey Granger, this one's got a fireplace!" Draco exclaimed to her, entering one of the classrooms._

_The classroom was spacious and empty, save for a few chairs, desks, and couches scattered around the room, full of dust and spider webs. "This must've been some kind of study room." Draco muttered to himself. _

_"Hey, Gran- Argh!" He was suddenly pushed by the bushy haired Muggle-Born, hurriedly making her way to the couch nearest to the fireplace. Lighting with blue flame sparkles the fireplace, and making a quick __Scourgify__ to the couches, she comfortably sat on the edge of one, and continued reading her book. "This is so much more comfortable than the ice-cold floor." She sighed the words with warmness in her voice. _

_Taking his pride away, he made his way and sat to the opposite side of the couch Granger was in. It __was__ much more comfortable._

"_That's not the book you were reading back in the corridors." He said, breaking the silence between them, by an unexplainable urge to talk to the bookworm, who was now more-less his friend. _

_"You wouldn't like it. It's Muggle literature." She said, not looking up to him. He found it unnerving._

"_For your information Granger, __we__ may not like Muggles, but throughout the years I've come to accept… not everything they do is useless rubbish." He hissed at her, and she looked up at his words, her eyes filled with a gleam. _

"_Then do you know about Shakespeare?" She whispered, and he detected a tiny trace of hope in her voice. He disappointed her. _

"_No. And if it's something like the romantic junk Pansy reads in her magazines, I don't care." He said and she laughed._

_"It's nothing like the things Pansy reads. Although it is a romantic play," She said and then whispered softly, something sounding like "actually a tragedy", "it is nothing an intelligent and cult mind wouldn't like. It's a Muggle classic, and the romance in the novel is just the cherry on top of all the political, and social issues talked about in the play." She said, and he noted her unhidden enthusiasm in her voice now._

"_What's the title?"_

"_Romeo and Juliet."_

"_And what is it about?"_

"_It basically tells the story about two star-crossed lovers born in the wrong families." She said after some thought. "What do you mean?"_

_"Well, you have these two families, Capulet and Montague. They're sworn enemies, to the extent of death. Then we have the daughter of the patriarch Capulet, Juliet, and from the Montague side there is a son, Romeo. And in a ball held by the Capulets, Romeo and Juliet fall in love deeply with one another."_

"_But they can't!" Draco said unthinkingly and she giggled._

"_No. But they did."_

"_And what happens at the end?"_

_"Well, I've read it at least three times now, but I don't want to ruin you the end. I can lend it to–" She said but couldn't finish, as Draco had suddenly scooted closer to her, the closest he'd ever been in his life, his eyes glued to the book._

"_No, I want to know __now__." He said, and she blushed._

_"I didn't read too much; we can start from the beginning if you like." She said and stiffly opened the book in the beginning._

_Reading the first act of the play, Draco wasn't only engrossed by the story, completely different from anything he'd read before, but he noticed the sweet and absorbing smell her hair and skin transpired. __Completely different and more authentic than Pansy had ever smelled. Maybe if I scooted closer, I could breathe in more… __he though and when he did, Hermione suddenly rose to her feet, her face, illuminated by the fire, burning with a pink colour, and eyes looking at the watch on her left hand, said, " Merlin, it's almost three in the morning! It's been hours since our patrolling ended! We must return now. We can continue on our next patrol." She stated in an alarming tone, and in their hurriedly walk towards their respective dorms, Draco couldn't shake away from his mind the enticing scent she had and in the burning spot he felt on his left hand ever since she had brushed with her hand his skin the moment she stood up from the couch._

_The only thing he was sure was the fact he wanted to repeat the sensation again._

"Draco?" Hermione said, shaking her hand in front of him, her face full of concern. It wasn't normal for him to just "space-out". And the times he did, was when he was deep in thought about something important.

"And it hasn't just been months, but _years_ since that time I was so disappointed to find out how your romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet ended." He said returning to the present, and yanked her by her hand, towards him.

"It wasn't my fault Shakespeare decided to kill off both characters, along with many others. It wouldn't have been as fruitful and transcending if they both had lived. It's the magic of art; sometimes you must have a sad ending to make your piece perfect." She said, her lips almost touching his. The sweet scent of the cherry quill still resided on her lips and breath. He learned to notice, over time, whenever she was feeling stressed, she would carry few sugar quills with her, and chew on them in their free periods. But the thing he loved and learned too, overtime, was the taste of the quill on her lips.

He revived his memories, by crashing his lips against her willing ones, and by touching her silky curls, the vanilla scent she always carried, engulfed and filled his nostrils and brain. "Hermione," He whispered against her lips and little by little he traced his lips further down, and with almost a sigh, he placed his lips softly on the forbidden spot of her neck, testing the waters of how much she'd recovered from it. Seeing her closed eyes and parted lips, he continued to caress and kiss her soft neck with his parted lips. Ever so delicately, he tasted her skin, feeling how the goosebumps would travel through her body.

One hand of his traveled north, and for the first time he dared and placed his hand below her breast, his thumb tenderly stroking her bosom, winning a soft and almost inaudible moan from her lips. Smiling against her lips, he nibbled her lower lip and he placed his full hand in the place his thumb was. More incoherent moans and sighs came from her throat as he massaged her breasts with his hand, toying now with the hem of her shirt.

"W-Wait." She suddenly said through ragged breaths and broke the kiss, along with the touch of Draco's hand om her.

"Was it too quickly for us to–" "No, it's not that." She interrupted him, her eyes glued to her legs.

"I… I think it's better if I show you." She said nervously, and before Draco could think anything, her shirt was off, leaving her almost topless, save for her bra. And he understood the why of her affliction of him touching her. Just below her collarbone, tracing down her chest, was a purple line, a scar, which was a visibly ( or at least to any wizard who knew dark magic) sign of the leftover of a curse.

"Who?" He said, his fist unconsciously clenched and his eyebrows frowned.

"Dolohov." She whispered, not daring to look up. _At least he's in Azkaban now,_ he though.

"Hermione." He said, raising her chin with his thumb, making her look into his eyes, hers full of tears. "You're beautiful Granger. I would care less if one of your limbs were missing, you were scratched in the face by a werewolf, or stung by a Blast-Ended Skrewt. To me, you are beautiful beyond any physical aspect. And if you're still feeling subconscious about this," He said, placing a finger on her scar, ignoring the fire burning on his skin at her touch, "I think that you are as fascinating and graceful with it as if you didn't had it. Even more, it shows your bravery, and your benevolent soul, fighting for what is right." He said and wiped her cheek from the single tear that rolled down from it.

"Thank you Draco." She said smiling, embracing him. "Although, not all of my scars show my success." She said miserably, breaking off from their embrace.

"About that," He said, now pointing at her neck. "Granger, you've been different ever since the bastard of my godfather bit you." He said.

"Please, Draco… let's just not go there. My mind has been playing tricks on me, and I don't want it to continue in the time I'm with you." She said, and to Draco's disappointment, she put on her shirt back again.

"Did he threaten you?"

"What? No, no he didn't. Actually… he hasn't spoken to me at all ever since we returned to Hogwarts." She said, and to Draco's horror, he could almost hear the disappointment in her voice.

_Please don't let it be what I'm fearing it is,_ he thought as he made a mental note about talking with his godfather later.

* * *

_**Dear Hermione,**_

**_I was impressed by your letter, seeing we had never shared correspondence before but was not less glad to receive it. We are doing great, thank you, Bill recently got a promotion in Gringotts, and we celebrated by going to his favourite Muggle restaurant in London. I began a part-time job in the Ministry as a translator, and I can say it is going all well. Teddy is as lovely as always, although there are times he makes me feel like not having children ever! But not to worry (Molly says I scare her with that every time), I do want children someday. Not now, I want first to get settled in my new job, besides the point Bill and I are enjoying our lives very much as they are right now to think about children yet._ **

_**But back to your letter, I never would have though there were any veelas in your school! Less the fact you would be the mate of it, how strange life is! Please don't worry or stress about it right now, worrying is not only bad for your skin, but you can get sick of it too. Easter holidays are approaching, and we could meet in Hogsmeade for a deeper conversation on the matter, as I can see by the contents of your letter it is not something to be taken lightly.**_

_**It is quite urgent that we meet, not only for your sanity but also for the well-being of the veela. I am too, a quarter veela, but the difference in myself is that my veela blood never awakened, so I don't need a mate for the matter. But having veela parentage, I know much more than what is written in books.**_

_**Please write to me back again to arrange the date of our meeting,**_

_**Fleur**_

Hermione read for the third time Fleur's letter, before writing on the nearest parchment her response about the time and date of their meeting. Besides the fact she had explained to her more about her personal life than she did about veelas, she didn't know if she should be offended by her comment on "being surprised about her befalling to be the mate of a veela".

With frustration, she ripped the letter into pieces and threw them into the fire. She knew she was acting childishly, but she didn't even got a clue of what to do in Fleur's letter. And the thing about her not stressing, worried her more. _It's not her fault, though. She was right about meeting up, even if she wanted, that much information about veelas couldn't be transmitted only by a letter._ She sighed in frustration.

Snapping her out of her thoughts and frustration, she saw a tiny, greenish looking elf with wide eyes looking up to her. And holding with his long fingers and small hands was a letter.

"Uhm…" She said, unsure about how to react.

"Young Miss, I has a letter from the headmaster to you." The small elf squeaked and with caution, stepped closer to her, giving her the small parchment.

"And may I ask what's your name?" She asked politely to the elf.

"I is Detsy Miss."

"And tell me Desty," She said, unsure if she was talking to a male or female elf, her protective instincts for elfs kicking in, "Do the new headmasters treat you well?"

The eyes of the elf widened and began nodding frantically. "Oh yes, Miss! Yes!" The elf sang, almost screaming, "Destsy is treated with respect!" It said.

"Oh, good to know. Thank you for the message Detsy." Hermione said with a smile, and with a single pop, the elf disappeared from her sight.

She opened the parchment, and in the familiar, taunting letters, it was written,

_**Please meet me in my potions office as soon as you get this.**_

_**S.S**_

With a big lump in her throat, she carefully made her way out of her common room, and without waking up Draco, she went to the potions office.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked after her professor silently let her and offered her in the same silent tone, a cup of tea.

"You know this tea won't be very useful now in the night," She casually added, seeing his lack of response to her last question.

"Severus…" She said, unafraid of using his first name now, after the long and pregnant pause, still without an answer.

"It's a chamomile infusion. Giving your _excellent_ skills in potions, you should already know it'll help you sleep, not the other way around." He said monotonously, and she blushed at his compliment, without a single trace of sarcasm in it.

"That wasn't my first question." She said more boldly.

"Sev–" "I have come up with a solution to our problems, that'll benefit you the most, I'm sure." He interrupted her, bitterness in his tone, and he slowly extended his hand, and quickly retracted it back, his face now hidden in the darkness.

"A solution?"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review and keep reading! :***


	17. A moment alone

**A/N: BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING! BIG ANNOUNCEMENT**

**THIS STORY'S RATING WILL CHANGE TO M* (there won't be any mature scenes yet but still), AND IF YOU WANT, CHECK MY FIRST CHAPTER; I CORRECTED IT AND ADDED A FEW THINGS ;)**

**Hehe... here I am guys. Again, I want to apologize for my almost three-month tardiness, and I so very am glad to still have you as my readers. I don't want to bore you or anything but after the last update I passed through my most emotionally traumatic experience in my life. And, while yes I was getting better when I uploaded my last chapter, everything went down afterward. Even my school performance suffered because of it, and I was so very frustrated because it wasn't even a week after my last upload when I already had half of this chapter ready, but I just couldn't write. I was honestly very depressed to even turn on my computer.**

**It reached the point where I'm currently visiting two therapists... BUT ANYWAYS! I don't want to bore you with personal details which only sound as excuses, I want to tell you that I'm waay better than I was three months ago, and I'm so ready to write! I already have the whole story planned out (in my head) and I already started my next chapter. Again I'm sorry to my Dramione readers who think there is too much Severus on this chapter, but after this one, he won't be present too much in... a couple of chapters (and I'm sorry to my Snamione readers). I'm sorry this chapter is a small one, but I was way too tired. I have wanted to upload this chapter ever since last week, but exams didn't let me, and right now is barely 10 o'clock in the night and I'm falling asleep on my keyboard lol. Of course, many many grammar mistakes there are here in this chapter, and tomorrow, maybe Saturday I'll correct them.**

***I'll change my story to M in the period of 2 days, for readers who haven't seen it, to see the announcement :)**

**Suggestions, comments, or anything you think, you know what to do, thank you all again for your support as readers and your reviews**

**Please review and enjoy ;)**

* * *

Full-hearted yelling, sweaty shirts, and a pale sunny sun was what greeted the Gryffindors and Slytherins the windy Saturday of their game day.

Through ragged breaths, the Gryffindors were now chanting the name of Ginny, who appeared to be the one scoring almost all of the points in favour of their house.

Wanting to keep loyal to Hermione, Draco promised to stay by her side in the game, but after some mocking by Blaise and the efforts of Hermione to convince him to keep loyal to his house, he agreed and sat in the Slytherin part of the pitch, cheering for his fellow peers.

Ron was in a deep conversation with Dean about the odds of the game points while Harry was seated next to Hermione, his voice already husky from his almost non-stop screams at Ginny. His hand was securely wrapped around Hermione's, his iron grip tightening every time Slytherin scored.

"Harry, if you don't mind!" Hermione practically shouted in a pained voice, no longer feeling her numb hand. "What?" He shouted back, his eyes glued to the flying redhead. "My hand! Your grip is too tight!" She yelled back and pointed to their linked hands. His eyes looked at her for a mere second, and replying with a quick "Sorry!" he loosened his grip a little, his eyes back on the game.

_At least he's enjoying himself._ Hermione thought. _Thinking about it, this is the first year Harry is able to enjoy a Quidditch match from the audience side in his whole stay at Hogwarts. _Coincidently,all the times he was injured, banned, or in detention, were the times there was a Quidditch match. And even though he missed being on one of the flying brooms, Harry wasn't going to miss any games in his last year of school. Even less now his girlfriend was the captain.

"GO GINNY!" She heard Harry scream at the wild witch with flaming hair flying close to one of the goal hoops.

Sad as it may be, the only cheering in the common room that night was the boisterous cheers of Neville, having at last become the boyfriend of Hannah Abbott. Everyone else was mourning their lost game to the Slytherins.

Even though the snitch got caught by Natalie McDonald, she miscalculated their points by the time she caught it, so even though she did, Slytherin won by ten points.

Trying not to look too disappointed, there was an unspoken agreement, and everyone, including Ron, tried to not speak of it, viewing it as it never happened. Everyone besides Ginny that is.

Just after the game had ended, she almost had to be restrained because she felt like using whoever passed her way as a punching bag. Not twenty minutes had passed after they entered the common room that she fell into a catatonic state. She wasn't crying, but her eyes reflected her broken dreams.

"Hey Dean, how come you're here and Seamus isn't? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have you here, but being a Muggle-Born… I thought you'd have it harder to return, like most of us." Hermione said, approaching Dean, who looked quite pleased to see her just after Ron told him he was going to the loo. It wasn't unknown Ron could speak nineteen to the dozen, and sometimes it could be quite tiring.

"Hey, Hermione." He greeted her as she sat next to him. "Well, my mum almost threw a fit when I told her I would be coming back to Hogwarts, but my father and I convinced her it wasn't only for the best, but there weren't any murderous wizards trying to kill or imprison us anymore. Told her too, I didn't see any promising scholarships for Muggle universities in the future," He chuckled. "And Seamus… he said he wanted to experiment with the Muggle world, so half of last year he worked in his father's retail store, and since January he's working at Diagon Alley in a Quill shop I think." He told her, pausing a bit to take a sip of his pumpkin juice, "But I believe he wanted to return to Ireland, after all, his family is from there."

Hermione suddenly caught some fourth years sniggering quietly at the way Ginny was seated. She was sitting in a small tabouret, her eyes looking forward and her back straight.

"Dean if you could excuse me for a moment," She politely excused herself, and throwing at the young Gryffindors a furtive look, she approached Ginny whose hand was clasped in between Harry's.

She crouched next to the tabouret and held Ginny's free hand in hers, mirroring Harry's actions.

"Ginny, you're worrying us all." She softly started, not getting any response, "I know this game was so crucial for you, for all of us, but we can't dwell on what happened in the past. Our only option is to move forward." She told her, mentally praying Harry didn't make a comment about time-turners. He didn't and she mentally sighed in relief. "Besides, even though Slytherin won by ten points, we're still ahead of them! Not only will Gwenog watch the final match in which you'll be in, but there's still hope for us to win!" She told her enthusiastically and the youngest Weasley finally snapped out from her trance-like state to look at her with eyes keen of curiosity and confusion.

"Hope?" She asked and then turned her head fiercely to Harry. "How could I've forgotten?" She shook Harry by his shoulders. "It doesn't matter that we lost, we can still win! We'll only have to practise harder and better and we'll have the cup in our bags!" She exclaimed with joy and proceeded to assault all of the other team players with her usual motivational speech.

"I'm so in love with her." She heard Harry say under his breath and she laughed.

* * *

"I sincerely don't understand why you are both complaining. You don't have to attend ten classes like I do, you're no longer on the Quidditch team, and neither of you is head boy!" She said to both Harry and Ron, the three friends reunited after the end of her Magical Runes class. "For Merlin's sake, you're taking only five N.E.W.T.s!"

"Hey, 'Mione don't blame us," Ron said, motioning with his finger Harry and himself. "We saved the world! Don't we deserve a little rest? Or a little credit?" He said and while Harry only laughed, Hermione frowned at them.

"Honestly," She sighed through her nose, "If you would stop and think for a moment our contribution to the war is not _everything_ in the world, then you wouldn't be so full of yourselves!"

"You know how we've been all these years 'Mione. Of course we haven't let the fame go to our heads." Harry stopped and looked sideways to Ron, "Well, at least I haven't," He grinned and Ron replied with "Oi!". "But being studious and hard workers like you hasn't really been how we function." Harry finished and Hermione sighed.

"Although I appreciate the compliment, you still need to do some work! Just because Kingsley allowed it for us to apply to the Ministry without any N.E.W.T.s, doesn't mean you're allowed to and goof off all the time when you're actually doing them!"

"I can't imagine what you must've said to my girlfriend for her to be so worked up." Hermione heard a chuckle as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. Her cheeks were flushed bright pink while her hair was already somewhat puffy.

"I-I'm not worked up!" She defended herself, " I only get frustrated with the fact that with the opportunity they gave us, neither Harry nor Ron seems to be grateful enough." She said indignantly, but the small smile threatening her lips made it clear to Draco she only meant half of it.

"It was only one homework!" Harry claimed.

"Stop complaining and put your arse to work!" Draco called as he and Hermione made their way to the opposite side of the corridor.

Hermione couldn't help but feel all fuzzy and happy at Draco's touch. He was holding her by the waist with one arm while the other carried her bag. _I could get so accustomed to this_ she happily thought.

"I haven't told you, but in the Easter holidays, I have an appointment at the Ministry." He said when they both sat down on a stone bench near the lake.

"Oh? And why is that? Does it has something to do with your father?" She asked, her face full of concern.

Seeing the deep frown already forming in her face he chuckled, "Relax Granger. It's for a job interview." He told her and she turned one of her curls between her fingers in a nervous manner.

"I knew you wanted to work in the Ministry as well as I but… I was hoping we'd go together and apply until after we finished school…" She said in a timid voice.

"Remember when I told you I wanted to either work in the Department of Law Enforcement or in the Department of Mysteries?" She nodded and he continued, "Well, I went for the Department of Mysteries job, and even though I wasn't supposed to tell you this, or anyone for that matter," He muttered the last part to himself, " I wanted to apply to be an Unspeakable, and they told me they have as their "own rules"." He said air quoting the last part, "And so even though I don't have my N.E.W.T.s yet, the job interviews are being held the week of Easter holidays."

"So I won't be able to know with who or what you'll be working with?" She asked, her voice sounding nervous. He softly laughed.

"I will tell you some things, although I don't know if they'll force me into a vow or something, either way, I don't plan for this to be my life job. I'm really interested in politics, but I know that if I go there from the start, I won't be able to get out from there later. So I'm going for this in the meantime." He finished and softly placed a kiss on her upper cheek, and when he pulled away, his eyes locked on hers. She smiled.

"When we first started talking like civilized people, I still couldn't get why so many girls would fall with you." He pierced his eyes at her and she laughed, giving him a turn-away smile.

"And why, in your so ever intelligent mind, did you come up with such thoughts?"

"You mean, besides the fact you were a spoiled brat with an obsession with blood supremacy?" She teased. His response to it was quick. Without her having time to even breathe and the fact they were both sitting on the stone bench, he already had her pinned to the wall, his lips brushing the ivory skin of her jaw and her hands pinned to her sides.

"Now," He said and his lips moved upwards to her earlobe, nibbling it slightly, making her shiver. "would you still say and think the same about me?"

"D-Draco, someone will see…" She said weakly against him.

"You know at this time of the evening, no one comes by to this part of the castle. Besides," He said and his eyes burned against hers, lips almost touching, "you still haven't answered me."

She shook her head and her eyes glued themselves to his lips. She could breathe his scent; the thought of tasting black tea and an apple made her mouth water.

"Say it." He pressed and his lips got closer to hers, almost kissing them.

"N-No. I-I don't think the same way now." She said, motioning her head closer to his touch. "I… I love you."

It was the last thing she had said before she felt the hot and smooth touch of his lips on hers.

"I love you so much Hermione." He said between kisses, one of his hands securely wrapped in her soft curls while the other caressed her neck. More than heated kisses, yelling for more physical contact, these felt like a scream of pure love, a feeling of belonging genuinely reciprocated from both parties.

Her hands grasped his clothes desperately as if he were to let go of her, leaving her forever.

"Don't leave me…" She said through ragged breaths while kissing his face.

"…Never." He said continuing to kiss her amorously, until they met with the wet and cold feeling of grass, having fell from the bench.

"It's your fault we'll almost miss dinner." Hermione said along with a half laughing Draco, jogging their way back to the Great Hall.

"_My_ fault? Granger, if you weren't as _enthusiastic_ as you were back there, we might've reached the Great Hall sooner." He teased her and her cheeks turned a shade of bright pink. "Besides," He said catching up to her, "Don't tell me you didn't like it.".

Hermione would've tripped and fell to the ground if it weren't for the ice-cold voice calling them from behind the exact moment Draco finished talking.

"As much as I would like to give you both detention right now, I must first, ask you what you were doing." At the same time, both Hermione and Draco turned and saw the big shadow coming closer to them, its pale face frowning with a look of anger.

The sight of the potions professor and new headmaster made Hermione reawaken memories from days before. Memories she wished she could erase permanently from her mind. Memories that were unwanted.

And she also wished she didn't lie to herself.

"_A solution? What do you mean?" She said with trembling lips._

_"It means that we don't have to deal with each other anymore. I'll be gone from your life as well as you'll be gone from mine. Forever." He said in an icy tone. She didn't want to admit it, but his words had hurt her, and even though he didn't show it, he felt her pain. It was crushing him, but he had to carry on with his personal mission.  
_

_They stood silent for a few moments until she suddenly said without thinking, "But you'll die!" before her cheeks turned red and her eyes wide as plates._

"_Oh?" He said raising his eyebrow. "Are you suggesting something, __Miss Granger__?" He sneered at the use of the formality of her name._

"_I-I didn't necessarily implied something…. sir." She stuttered and blushed at her words, her eyes looking towards her lap._

"_Then I would suggest you to keep your mouth shut, and let me explain before you start rambling nonsensical words." He said and took a gulp from his tea. And even though he didn't look up to her, he could hear her faintly whisper "Yes sir," before an eloquent silence engulfed them.  
_

_Being too ashamed to look up at him, Hermione keep her eyes on her lap. She knew he was taking advantage of this, as she felt his burning and piercing gaze over her, his eyes breaking her walls, uncovering her utmost hidden feelings and secrets.  
_

"_I should give you chamomille tea more often, it sure shuts you up." He casually commented with a sly smile, every word full of venom and sarcasm. __Why is he so cynic with me? __Hermione absently thought, but she then remembered she was speaking to the Head of Slytherin, one of the wizards being known for his cunning and sarcasm ever since he was a student. Yes, he wasn't __too__ helpful for this situation, the man was always like that; but Hermione recalled he was to some extent "nice" to her because of some hormones and magic he couldn't control. No, he wasn't attracted to her at all, even less considering her a person of respect. He was merely trapped in a situation where if he doesn't comply with his creature's needs, he dies. _

_Hermione couldn't stop herself from being disappointed and sad at her conclusion.  
_

_"Before you continue to dwell on your unhappy thoughts, I should continue with what I was saying. I sent for you because I have found myself with an option I'm sure it'll benefit both ourselves." He stood up from his chair and retrieved a small parchment from his desk; it was a yellowish paper, full of scribblings and traces of mud. He handed it to her, and as her eyes scanned the paper, she saw she was looking at a potion recipe of sorts; a very complicated one too._

"_Why did you give me this? What does it mean?" She asked, her brain yet incapable of processing everything, the mood was still too stressing and edgy.  
_

"_And here I thought you were the most competent witch of your time." He growled, stepping closer to her. He bent down to her and his arms grasped the chair arms, leaving her completely trapped between him and the chair. His face merely inches away from hers._

"_This__," He said lowering his eyes to the piece of paper securely grasped in Hermione's small fingers, "Is my ticket to freedom, and yours too." He whispered the last words into her ear. His velvety voice sent shivers down to her spine, and Hermione fought not to look directly into his eyes, fearing she would lose herself to them.  
_

_"You see," He continued, "I found a potions master, like me, in Rumania, who might help me with the piece of paper you're now holding in your hands. This potion, if done correctly so, will allow me to have full control over myself without letting my veela self-slip and react to you…. until the day I die." He said somberly and Hermione felt sick.  
_

"_Do you want to die?" She asked with a trembling voice, and for the first time in the whole evening, she dared to look up and stare into his big, dark eyes._

_He faced her with a hard expression on his face and saw the glassy eyes and flushed cheeks the young witch below him had. Severus felt disgusted and horrified with the fact that even though he was heavily doped with the veela potion, the witch still had an effect on him. And he didn't know for sure if it was just the veela in himself who'd become infatuated with her. "Don't you understand?" He said through gritted teeth, "That it is not my right to decide how my future will end? That even though we try, it'll never happen?" Hermione knew there were no traces of the veela on the outside, she smelled nothing and both Severus' eyes were still usual black. But she noticed how much emotion and passion they showed._

_He took her shoulders in his hands and he shook her; the cup she was holding crashed to the floor. "This," He said and he tightened his grip on her, his right hand cupping her face and his hot breath against her jaw. "Will never happen." _

_He let go of her, as gently as if he were grazing the petals from a rose and stepped into the darkness, hiding from her eyes.  
_

What shook Hermione out of her momentary trance in the memory lane was the almost-violent conversation her boyfriend was having with the potions master, and the subject of her emotional instability.

"I already TOLD you, _sir_" Draco was saying to the man whom once was almost a fatherly figure to him, "_We_ may do whatever we please in our spare time. Whether we want to skip dinner or not, is our problem, not yours." Hermione was left open-mouthed with shock. Never in his life had Draco spoken so rudely to a professor before (for the exception of Dumbledore), even less to the man who'd raised him whenever his father faltered.

Severus, noticing this, took the opportunity and spoke with the most monotonous voice he could manage, "Very well. You can go and do whatever _you_ please, and seeing you won't eat dinner I also except no to see you in the Great Hall." He said and Draco's face gained a pale shade of red. Just before he could retort Severus added, "And seeing you're already leaving, I would like a word with Miss Granger, _alone_."

"What? You can't do that! What will assure me you won't lunge her? I think you've already done too much damage here." He said defensively, stepping in front of Hermione. "Draco I-" She tried to speak, but was cut off by her potions professor, "Last time I recalled, I was or rather _am_, the headmaster. So if you don't want any detention _Mr. Malfoy_, I suggest you return to your bed chambers. _Now." _

"You can't just-" Draco began, but Hermione lightly pressed his arm. "Draco, _please. _It'll be just a moment. I promise." She said to him with a small smile on her lips.

"Fine." He said through gritted teeth looking menacingly at his godfather.

Hermione turned and just as Severus began walking they heard "Granger wait!" Coming from the opposite direction.

"I forgot something," Draco said approaching them.

Just as Hermione was going to ask him what was it, Draco pulled her towards his arms and gave her the most passionate kiss they've ever shared in front of someone else. It wasn't until a not-so-very-quiet cough coming from Snape brought them back to reality and they separated. "Be careful my bushy-haired bookworm." He whispered lovingly to Hermione, and giving one last triumphant look at his godfather, Draco finally walked away, quickly fading out from eyesight, leaving an infuriated veela behind with his girlfriend, who was blushing furiously.

"What was it that you wanted to discuss with me, _professor_?" She asked after she had gained control of herself and her breathing became normal again. Although her tone was a polite one, she couldn't help but stress the word professor.

"I would prefer for us to discuss this matter in my office if you please." He said and motioned her towards the way to the dungeons. She didn't move.

"I'm not sure that's an excellent idea sir. Dinner will be over soon and I must do home-" "_Hermione_." She was cut off (again) by Severus. The use of her first name on his lips drowned her words.

He quickly looked sideways, and when he was sure no-one would pass by, he got closer to Hermione and grabbed her chin softly with his fingers, making her look up at him. "This might be –and hopefully– the last time we speak privately." He said to her.

"All I'm asking is a moment alone. Nothing more." Hermione could do nothing more other than nod after his black orbs captured her brown ones.

* * *

The cold hallways seemed to get more narrow as Severus Snape led Hermione silently towards his chambers. Every single drop of water that fell from the stones to the floors and the cracking of the few leaves caught in the castle sounded a million times louder than Hermione ever remembered.

She didn't remember actually entering the potions classroom, passing through his office, and entering his own chambers. It wasn't until a _plastic_ cup of tea was placed in her hands that she shook out from her semi-trance mode.

"I don't want you accidentally breaking up more of my tea set. I don't know if you've noticed, but you've already broken at least three cups, and the material is too fragile for magic to repair it completely."

"Uhm, thank you." She said taking a sip from her tea. After moments of uncomfortable silence, she spoke up. "Where did you get this? I know your father was a Muggle, but I thought you hated anything relating Muggle stuff."

"I do. I've had this cup since I was a young boy. I had a friend who, like you, was careful about everything but the tea cups. My mother's tea set was much larger back then. It was pretty common whenever she came to my house, a piece of my mother's tea set would suffer. I decided to make one from plastic to avoid any further broken glass." He said with a tiny twinkle in his eyes shyly showing, his face looking far away, into a remote memory. The moment was short-lived, for when Hermione started smiling at him, he cleared his throat and said. "Yes well, I still want for my mother's tea set to survive at least until my death, thus, the plastic cup in your hands." He said, mask back on, without giving any further explanation about his past, or who was his friend. A _female _friend by the looks of it.

"It's okay, I don't want anything to happen to your mother's tea set too." She said in a soft voice.

Moments passed, both wizard and witch equally uncomfortable with the lack of communication passing through them. It unnerved them both, but at the same time, there wasn't really much to say. Hermione felt like Severus utterly hated her, and no matter how nice she was towards him, his demeanor of "The dungeon bat professor" wouldn't change even though they were sort of magically bonded with each other. And Severus felt like he was in Hogwarts all over again. Veela or not, he didn't want to say something that bothered Hermione in any way. He was scared with his veela being, rubbing too much of his feelings towards Hermione on him. What frustrated him more was the fact he was beginning to realise this "veela" side of him wasn't entirely different entity inside of him, but more of an unexplored side of him.

"Hermione.." He whispered her name, his lips brushing her earlobe. Neither of them knew how Hermione was almost pinned to the nearest wall, Severus leaning against her. He inhaled her scent and with his utmost self-restraint, he kissed her neck, without drawing out his fangs to mark her again. He'd taken his veela potion, he knew, but even with the strongest dose he had, the fragile young bird before him almost made him feel worse than the time Lily held his hand one time at Halloween when the ghosts decided to prank the students randomly.

"Tell me not to leave and I won't do it." He told her roughly, pinning her hand against the wall, entwining their fingers together.

"I… I don't want you to go.," She whispered softly, nibbling at her lip.

"Then tell me," He said, his lips almost brushing hers, "Are you in love with Malfoy?"

"I…"

The moment he sensed the absence of her answer, he silently let go of her and walked to the other side of the room.

"As I told you previously, your graduation will be the last time you see me." He told her icily, not caring he'd left her alone in his chambers with her heart ramming against her rib cage.

_**The first week of April (Easter Holidays), 1999**_

"It was sweet of you inviting me 'here, 'Ermione. But if you're staying at 'Ogwarts for the week, I don't understand why we didn't meet up at Three Broomzteecks." Fleur Weasley said, taking a sip from her teacup. After their letter exchange, Hermione decided to invite Fleur for lunch at Grimmauld place.

"Oh yeah, I am. But I came here because exams are getting nearer and with my studying schedule I realised there are many useful books here that I can use to study. I'm only staying the night, tomorrow morning I'll return to Hogwarts." Hermione explained. In truth, she was both frustrated and angry her personal problems had gotten in their way with her studying. She was still the best seventh grader, but she had now little less than three months to study, so she decided to enclose herself with her books and notes the full break.

Draco also had too much on this plate for this break. He decided to start looking for a proper place to build his new manor, his interview to become an Unspeakable lasted two days, and he also had to study for exams. Even though she was crammed with work, Hermione still regretted a little bit she couldn't be there to support Draco the day of his interview.

Fleur scrunched her nose at Hermione answer before saying, "You could've told me before. I 'ave a friend, Mireille, 'ou runs a lovely café in Muggle London. She does zis beautiful charms on ze patisserie. You know she 'elped Molly with my wedding cake?" She said.

Hermione couldn't help but be embarrassed at her words. Even though her voice sounded cheerful, Hermione noticed the cool look of disdain in Fleur's eyes watching her lunch attempt. Seeing Hermione was going to stay and study in Hogwarts, Harry decided to visit the Burrow for the break along with Ginny and Ron, neither of them thinking much about the food stored at Grimmauld Place. Even after deciding to stay one night and invite Fleur for lunch, she hadn't thought about buying anything. And Given the amount of stress and studying she had to do, she also hadn't thought of a place to take Fleur. It was only when a curious Ginny Weasley approached her about her stay in the house that Hermione actually thought about the food they were going to eat. She panicked.

A notably improvised dish of crumpets, which was one of the very few recipes Ginny learned from her mother (Ginny knew _barely_ a tad more about cooking than Hermione did), wasn't something the quarter veela was expecting when she was promised lunch. After hurrying down to the closest convenience store to buy some honey and marmalade, she thanked Ginny for her help and the redhead disapparated away moments before Fleur arrived. Ginny, of course, didn't leave without first giving Hermione a sermon about having pumpkin butter in her counter but no honey nor jam.

"I know this isn't much, but honestly," Hermione sighed, "I'm overstressed with personal and school matters to be able and… _plan _this better. We could go to your friend's café if you want…" She said motioning the nearest Floo with her thumb.

"No, it's fine." Fleur said slightly shaking her head after a pause much too long for Hermione's liking, "Besides, lunch wasn't our first priority when you invited me 'ere, wasn't it?" She said, and with an assertive and thoughtful look in her eyes she watched Hermione, who blushed, forgetting for a second why she invited Fleur for lunch. _I bet that if she had studied in Hogwarts, she would've been assorted into Slytherin.  
_

"No, it wasn't." She replied with a frown taking a sip from her coffee cup slightly laced with Firewhiskey. Hermione wasn't that much of a drinker, but the times needed it, and she didn't feel prepared enough to be one hundred percent sober with whatever Fleur might tell her.

"Now, tell me everything you know about Veelas." Fleur asked folding her hands together, looking straight at her.

"I er…" Hermione thought about the most relevant things she grasped from all veela books she read.

"Well, Veelas are known to be physically identical to humans when not transformed. They can be very protective of their mates, if they are half wizards, their magical abilities get stronger-" "No." Fleur interrupted her with a stern face. "I know that you've probably read every single book there ez in 'Ogwarts' library about veelas. I also know 'alf of the books written are outdated and 'alf truthful. No, I don't want you to tell me what you've read, I want you to tell me what you _know_."

"Oh." Hermione said her face flushing with embarrassment. Memories of the past year began flooding her mind and before she could blush any further, she finished her cup of coffee and replied,

"Veelas can be very powerful. If not careful, you can trigger their temper, thus, making them not only angry but also potentially dangerous. They too, are... utterly protective and obsessive about their mates." She said, her face probably a dark shade of pink by now. "And the last thing I know about them, and also am _sure _of it is…" She swallowed hard before finishing. "If they're not full veelas, they have two personalities. They are two entities in one body; feelings and thoughts… are entirely different." Hermione had never wanted more than to _Accio_ the Firewhiskey quietly resting on her kitchen counter and drink it all in one swing.

"You are correct… in almost all of your statements."

"What? What do you mean? You told me to tell you everything I know about them, and in this last year, that's everything I was able to catch."

"It zeems that not everything." The young blonde said, taking a sip of her tea with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Then, would you like to _enlighten_ me about the thing I missed?" Hermione said through clenched teeth, her patience for the veela running out.

"Veelas don't 'ave dual personalities or anything of the sort unless there ez madness running in ze family, anyone would notice if there were. We are a complicated kind yes, but ze feelings ze veela 'as are ze same as ze "non-veela"" Fleur said making a face. "'as."

"But… but it can't be possible! I know Severus! Or I think I do…" She said in a low voice, averting her eyes towards the floor. She shook her head. "Anyhow, by the way he treats me and by how he reacts when he drinks his potions, there is no way he's feeling the same the way his veela does."

"So it ez Snape?" Fleur said with mild surprise in her tone. Hermione clasped her hands to her lips, not realising she just gave away the identity of the veela.

"Never liked him much I admit. But don't worry, I know 'ow secretive we sometimes are; I won't say a word." She said, completely forgetting the fact Hermione mentioned something about a potion, and Hermione relaxed.

"At any rate, 'e's probably facing a time of change. Whatever 'e has told you, in a negative form, ez the painful way 'is feelings of protection react towards you. 'E may not be fully aware of it now, but 'e's pushing you away because you desire eet. And you know that as obsessive and lovesick they might be towards their mates, the mate's happiness comes first, even thought eet means their doom." She said with a deadly serious tone and Hermione paled. Remembering Luna's story and not caring about what the blonde witch in front of her might think, she summoned the Firewhiskey from the kitchen and took a long and burning gulp from the bottle.

Fleur looked at her with stern eyes, patiently waiting until Hermione spoke again. "So you're saying, veela's hormones, magic or any of-of that taken out, Severus… loves me?" The witch in front of her merely nodded at her statement and drank from her cup with admirable grace, as if they were talking about summer vacations or the latest gossip.

"No, it can't _be_."

* * *

**A/N: Hope that my characters weren't too OOC (I dunno, I felt it like that), please continue reading, enjoy and review :***


	18. Goodbyes and new beginnings

**Disclaimer: Up until now, I own nothing.**

**A/N: First of all, let us all have a minute of silence for our dear Alan Rickman :( I was so sad to find out he died, I even cried. But it also inspired me to write this last chapter, as a tribute to the character he played. I'm sorry I didn't upload last month guys! It was a very hectic month for me. And for my absence, I've brought you a very looong chapter. And I know some of you will be severely disappointed because there is almost no DM/HG interaction in this chapter, but I couldn't do it any longer, so I'll compensate with the next chapter :3 **

**I want to thank all of you who took the time and wrote a review :) And in response to: that read head girl 14, I'm trying to make it less predictable! I even erased some chunks of past author's notes because I felt I revealed too much. But don't you worry, I found I really like drama, and there are going to be some nice twists to this story (nothing too creepy, don't worry). Nevertheless, thank you for your review.**

**As always, I know my grammar mistakes are going to be abysmal (I'm literally writing this at 3 am because I just HAD to finish this chapter already), and I'll correct them over the next few days. Reading past chapters, I found out I have some pretty nasty mistakes and I tried to correct them, also, I HATE that sometimes when I upload a chapter, it eats words! Most notably the Mrs. shalala, but then again, I'll try to look after them. This story is roughly at the middle, if I can, I'm planning on having thirty something chapters **

**Again, thank you, my readers, for writing me a review, and motivate me. Please continue reading**

**P.S. For the fans of Phantom of the Opera and Muse, I've left some easter eggs. Let's see if you can find them ;)**

**Enjoy and review :***

* * *

_**June 1999**_

Pansy's small floo roared with fire as the head of Draco Malfoy poked out of it. What had started off with a normal, friendly conversation, was now a rising argument between a wizard and a witch.

"And why the fuck not Parkinson?" Draco's face exclaimed, the fire only making it redder.

"I already _told_ you Draco! I can't!"

She had told Draco there was a possibility she couldn't attend his graduation ceremony due to the excessive traveling her boyfriend had to do. Draco had _then _told her she could miss just one of her multiple trips to watch him finish with flying colours and feel guilty she didn't. And of course, as the Slytherin she was, she had retorted that not only did he not attend her birthday party (it had been on January 19teenth and Draco had told her he couldn't just ditch school on a Tuesday just to attend her birthday party), but her trip to Japan was going to last nine months.

"I haven't seen you for six months and now you're telling me it'll be another nine? Pansy, the last time we saw each other was in my New Year's bloody party and we didn't even talk properly. It's been practically a year since we last saw each other. You told me you were going in _March_. Won't you job as a journalist or whatever-you're-doing suffer too?"

"First, I _am _a journalist, and no, as long as I send Japanese-related fashion articles I will be okay. Secondly, we were supposed to go in March, but Kasper told me there was a change of plans. And lastly, I'm _sorry_ you sissy pants, but when I invited you to my birthday party, your Mudblooded-lover arse decided to go and snog off with your girlfriend instead of going!" Now she was getting angry.

"Do. Not. Say. That. Word." Draco said through clenched teeth. "And as I told _you_ before, even though we have a little more freedom, it's not like I could just go and ditch school! You don't have to go all jealous Pans."

"_Oh_ believe me!" She smirked, making a sign with her hand, "If I were jealous, you would _know_. My boyfriend satisfies me way more than you ever did, thank you. And I'm just stating facts Mr. Malfoy. Don't complain I can't go, because when I needed you, you weren't there!" She finished with a pout just as a low grunt was heard from the other side of the floo network.

"But it was a fucking birthday party! I believe the fact I'm finishing school is more important than just people getting pissed until they can't remember who shagged their brains out!" Draco exclaimed in annoyance.

"And how did you expect we celebrated? My last year's party wasn't fun in the least because the dim-witted Carrow brothers wouldn't let a soul have a good time in the castle. And you weren't there also!"

"You very well know why." He said somberly.

"Yeah, I know," Pansy replied with a lower tone. "It wasn't your fault the Dark Lord decided to take residence in your manor and wouldn't let you do anything." She sighed, "Anyway, I can't make it to your graduation party Draco, I'm sorry. I've asked Kasper at least three times in the last two weeks if we could postpone the trip for a couple of weeks, but he can't. He told me the first client we'll be visiting is peculiarly… proper. And we must stay as his guests the whole visit, meaning the first two months, so travel by portkey to another continent, let alone another town, would be considered highly crude." She explained.

"What did you say your boyfriend does?"

" I already told you!" Pansy whined.

"You told me in a letter written almost a year ago. My memory doesn't retain unimportant things." Draco replied.

"Ugh, fine. He has two jobs actually. He's head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the French ministry, while the other… well, you could say the other one is a more clandestine business." She responded with a nervous laugh. "The business trip we'll make is from his department; this particular trip is in charge of the import and export of dangerous and rare potion materials to Japan. The other business he has deals with dragons and… exotic creatures." She finished, not wanting to reveal more. "Now that you mention it… I think Professor Snape might know him. Kasper told me that a few years back he made business with Hogwarts when they requested wolfsbane from Austria."

Draco responded with something ineligible, and Pansy could only grasp the last bit of swearing he did.

"Are you alright? Did something happen between the two of you?" Pansy asked, her eyes (already trained in the art of reading other people's faces) pierced at him.

"No, I just got my leg bit by Granger's bloody furball."

"I've known you ever since we were nine, I'm a Slytherin, and most importantly, I'm a _girl_. And you're expecting for me to believe such lousy excuse?"

"Pansy,_ nothing_ happened. Could you please be less annoying and let it go?" Draco said in an exasperated tone and Pansy let out a complaint.

"Fine! But if there is something, I will find out."

"Yeah, whatever you say," He replied, half listening to her.

"Ugh, you men are impossible! I feel pity for Granger now. I can't believe how she can stand you! One of the main reasons I knew nothing could ever happen between us is your temper."

"For you information, my temper had nothing to do with it. You just couldn't stand I prefer doing things that actually feed the brain, rather than destroy it."

"Suit yourself," She said rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I probably should go. I'll leave tomorrow evening and I still have some packing left to do." She said, looking at her room.

"Very well. Goodbye Pansy, take care. And good luck."

"Goodbye."

Draco heavily sighed as he put out his head from the green fire_. Why must __**he**__ have to be in almost every single aspect of my life?_ He angrily thought. _If it's not Granger, then it's at school, and if not, then Pansy has to mention him._ His life had been extremely gratifying until _he_ had to show up.

"Fuck him," He muttered to himself as he walked out from his common room, making his way towards the dungeons. _It's not really Granger's fault this all misfortune happened. I guess I can't really blame Snape too, for that matter. _

Entering Slytherin's common room, many first and second years watched him with a mixture of admiration and uncertainty looks as he made his way to the boy's dorm.

"I can almost see the sparks of raw magic fuming from your head mate. Are you okay?" Blaise, who was laying on his bed, greeted him. His eyes momentarily leaving _The Quibbler._

"You should ask that to yourself. Never would've pinned you mad enough to read _that_." Draco said, pointing his finger at the magazine.

"Not really my choice mate," Blaise responded with a sigh. "Luna invited me a couple of days in the summer to her house. She's excited because they renewed it."

"Which means you're going to shag," Draco said smirking and Blaise rolled his eyes.

"No, it means I have to read at least the last couple of issues from The Quibbler, or else I will have nothing to impress her father about."

"So this means you're serious about her? Or at least, serious enough to meet her father I mean."

Blaise sighed and dropped the opened magazine over his face. "Yeah? I don't know. I _am _sure I'm in love with her. She's a rare, beautiful bird. Her quirkiness drives me crazy, she's one of the most intelligent persons I've ever met, and that little, round arse or hers– " "Blaise, I get it. She fascinates you. Now, if you could, please continue…" Draco interrupted.

"Yeah, sorry. Well, I'm going to meet her father and… you've met him! He's the queerest bloke around town!"

"You could always enchant him with a gift. Money always makes a good impression on people." Draco remarked.

"You know very well as I do, that's not always true. Don't tell me Granger fell in love with you because of your fortune."

"Well no… as a matter of fact, now that I remember, she won't let me pamper her with gifts."

"And although Luna has told me her father indeed sold some articles from the Quibbler for some extra money, she has expressed to me money is in the least their primary interest."

"I can only tell you two things: If you ever thought Luna was mad, you haven't seen the definition of what mad is until you meet the man. And secondly, you, my friend," Draco said, clasping one hand on Blaise's shoulder, "Are fucked." He laughed and Blaise slapped his hand away.

"Sod off!"

"You can't blame me. It's not my fault your girlfriend has a lunatic as a father."

"You're lucky yours doesn't have parents at all," Blaise remarked.

"I know but, I can't help but feel guilty about it. Because in reality, she _does_ have parents, and very much alive. The only problem is they don't know they have a daughter."

"Oh, Bummer," Blaise said sarcastically, "At least they're not crazy then."

"I would very much hope so."

Just as Draco was leaving the boy's dorm, with the failed attempt of remembering why he came in the first place, Blaise called after him. "Hey mate! You forgot this in the Great Hall," He said, tossing him a letter. "I believe it's from your mother."

"Thanks," Draco said as he was leaving Slytherin's common room.

Walking down the almost-empty hallways of Hogwarts, he opened his mother's letter.

_**Draco,**_

_**I can't even begin to express how excited I am to have you finally back home. Unfortunately, it won't be for at least another year until we can have your father back from Azkaban.**_

Draco had to stop and roll his eyes at the statement before continuing the letter,

_**And although he can still come to special occasions (such as last year's new year), with Auror supervision, the Ministry won't let him out to celebrate you're graduating from Hogwarts. And of course, it won't be until three more years to finally live in peace without any supervision nor house arrest from your father's part. Nevertheless, having you finally coming home is also one of my wishes. Now the manor won't feel as big and empty as it has been the past year (although I must admit, I much rather prefer living alone than with a party of Death Eaters). I'm sorry to bother you with such sentiments in my letter, but it has been months since we last spoke to each other, and I only can't wait to see you. **_

_**But the motif of this letter lays in the matter of your application to the Department of Mysteries. I don't know why you decided to tell them to send your letter of acceptance or rejection to me, but I'm glad to inform you, you were accepted in whatever job it is that you applied there. The letter was almost empty save for you acceptance to the Department and the date in which you must present yourself to the Department.**_

_**P.S. I'm planning on organizing a small dinner to celebrate your graduation once you come home. I'm sure you'll invite sweet Hermione. Such doll she is. I'm keen to see both of you.**_

_**Love, **_

_**Narcissa Malfoy**_

Draco read twice his mother's letter, before tucking it into his pocket while he made his way towards his chambers. It was true he hadn't sent any letters to his mother in at least two months, but the stress from school and… other matters kept him busy enough to forget he had a mother. He felt guilty, and he knew her mother was sometimes resentful, but he was sure his graduation was enough for her to forget all about it. Draco felt happy with the thought he was accepted to be an Unspeakable. When he applied back in Easter holidays, they've told him if Draco were to be accepted, he would receive a letter with petite information, to avoid any prying eyes to find out he was to be an Unspeakable. He requested for the letter to be sent to his mother, he didn't quite trusted the school to be a place safe enough for a letter of acceptance to the Department of Mysteries to arrive. And he trusted his mother enough to know she would not pry if he asked her not to. She now knew better than to meddle in matters potentially dangerous.

Draco's mind wandered and he couldn't help but sigh as he thought about Hermione. He certainly knew she loved him, she did. But he was also certain that even though if it wasn't love, her affections towards his godfather weren't as indifferent and vague as she made him believe. He knew it wasn't her fault. Emotions couldn't be helped nor controlled. _Even though you think you love someone with all your soul, you may fall in love with someone else. It's your actions towards your feelings the decisive ones. _He sourly thought. And in the worst case scenario, if Hermione decided to stay with his godfather, he couldn't be mad at her. How could he? Her staying with Draco was, in reality, her going against nature, and Draco didn't know if he should be ashamed for not "forcing" Hermione to break up with him and be with the veela, or be mesmerized by how deeply her affections ran towards him.

It was a full day of sighing for Draco.

* * *

"Can't know which smile is bigger, if Hermione's or Ginny's," Ron whispered to Harry on their last afternoon in the Gryffindor's common room, before departing the morning after to their respective homes.

Surprising only herself and any student who _didn't_ know her, Hermione achieved a total of ten "Outstanding" in her N.E.W.T.s, not only making her best of her year, but it also remarked the fact she finally beat her "worst" subject: D.A.D.A .

On the other hand, Ginny's excessive Quidditch practice and bossy attitude towards the whole team made them win the last Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. With a final score of 380-220, and the almost the entire school attending, Ginny couldn't say anything else but, "Gwenog Jones congratulated me. She saw _me_ play. She saw us win.", for the next couple of hours after they'd won.

"Oh shush it, Ron. I just can't believe I finally got over my fear against the Dark Arts." Hermione replied, looking with shiny eyes her grades.

"Or maybe you're just lucky you didn't have to confront your boggart again." Harry laughed and Hermione only pierced her eyes at him.

"You've been holding onto that piece of paper for over almost a full day! I don't think your grades might change if you just put it away in your trunk." Ron chuckled.

N.E.W.T.s, different from O.W.L.s, were taken weeks before, so everybody had already their grades before they left school.

"I just want to look at them a little longer," Hermione replied. When their grades arrived the night before, she had celebrated with a bottle of Firewhiskey alongside Draco in their common room, both scoring nothing less than "O" in all of their subjects; Hermione in ten, and Draco in seven. Their little celebration ended too early, as Hermione escaped to her bedroom before Draco got any hornier than he already was. But even in their mirth, Hermione was a little sad her parents would never know one of her biggest dreams had come true. That is, until the day she recovered their memories. With a slight hangover, she'd spent the next day packing and celebrating with her friends.

"I just can't wait to return home and start practising Quidditch," Ginny chirped, seating herself in Harry's legs, who was sitting on the couch munching on some candy.

"Seeing you've done nothing but practise these past months, and you winning the Cup; I thought you've already had enough Quidditch for a while," Neville commented biting into a jelly slug.

"I thought I already told you– Oh, I keep forgetting you didn't enter until January Neville," Ginny said grabbing a jelly slug from Neville's candy, "I'll audition to play with the Holyhead Harpies. Tryouts will be held in October, and if I'm in, I'll start playing with them in January."

"_When_ you're in." Harry corrected her with a grin as he took a bite from the jelly slug Ginny had hung out from her mouth.

"I'll just pretend I didn't see that." Ron said grimacing at the sight of the couple, and tried to change the conversation, "Neville," He turned to the tallest of his friends, "You'll still stick with the Aurors yeah?"

"I think I will, yeah." Neville nodded. "After a year worth of Auror training, I only have two to go. I've found it pretty fulfilling and entertaining, besides the fact that it leaves me still with enough time to dedicate myself with my Herbology apprenticeship."

"Right, I keep forgetting you already have more than seven months ahead of us with the training. Good thing for Kingsley to let us start Auror training early. These past months under Lupin's guidance have been harsh, but it certainly gave us a head start." Harry said.

"Normal Auror training is pretty similar to what Lupin has been teaching us. The only difference is being given more dangerous tasks and longer work ours."

"But with the Auror training and your apprenticeship, will there be any time for Hannah?" Ron inquired, engulfing a chocolate frog.

"Ron!" Hermione slapped him with a nearby newspaper, "You can't just ask him that!"

"It's fine Hermione. Ron's the third person asking today. The other two being Hannah's friends," Neville chuckled, "We've talked about it, and even though Hannah will take too, an apprenticeship in Herbology, we won't be with the same Herbologist, and she'll take a part time job in the Leaky Cauldron. She wants to be a healer." Neville explained, "I told her it wouldn't be a problem to me if we didn't see each other every day, and she should know I care deeply for her, and she told me te feeling is mutual. So we'll rent a flat together as of beginnings of August and… well, I've planned until there." He laughed nervously.

"But won't you grandmother fret-" "-Over the idea of living with a woman who isn't blood-related to me or with my wife?" Neville finished for Harry. "Yes, she will. But ever since the war ended, Gran's been way more relaxed than before, and I've been living on my own ever since last year, so I'm hoping for the best. Besides, who knows what the future might bring, maybe she'll someday be Mrs. Hannah Longbottom." Neville said with a small smile, a deep blush caressing his cheekbones.

"Oh Neville, I think it's brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed, beaming at Neville. She was happy to see Neville had overcome most of his shyness and insecurity after the war. She remembered seeing him on the anniversary of the war's banquet held in the castle, happily holding, by the waist, Hannah. It had been a joyful day to many, and a grieving day to others. Almost everyone present had either a friend or a family member who had died either in the battle or throughout the whole war. Some of the Order members were present at the banquet too. Remus being one of the most affected, having lost not only his wife but also his first love. Hermione had then thought how sad it must've been, first losing all your best friends, and after all those years of being in solitude, his first and true love, to be taken away so abruptly in the war. Nevertheless, she was happy he had Teddy, and she hoped he would be able to find love again. But she was happy for Neville, one of the very few people who had favoured (at least mentally), from the war.

_One of the few good things the war brought, I guess._ Hermione thought.

* * *

A simple, disillusionment charm did the trick. Although the dungeons became one of the most uninhabited parts of the castle after the war (Slytherin was "strangely" the emptiest house), many would determine her walking down the dungeons somewhat odd, given that it was the day Hogwarts Express departed.

Even though they were days away from summer, the dungeons were still cold and she had to wrap her arms around herself to keep warm. She thought about entering his office from the Potions classroom, it was mere meters away from where she was standing, but then again, being found by other student or staff would only lead to uncomfortable questions, so she decided to use one of the backdoors leading to his office.

While it wasn't the main entrance to his office, she'd spent the last year going to several meetings and it would seem rather odd from her part to be receiving "remedial potion classes". And since it was the only excuse she could think of, answering the why of her constant visits to the headmaster's potion's office, she was given an alternate route, much more discrete and quicker to his office.

Meters away from the door of his office, she could already sense the mixed emotions passing through her veins, almost as if they were hers. Anxiety, worry, and a touch of excitement prevailed on her as she walked all the way from the narrow passage between a broom closet and his office.

Standing just outside his door, she couldn't help but take a sharp breath wondering, with an uneasy feeling, what would happen.

They both knew she was just outside his door, but not wanting to appear too eager, he gave her the pleasure of knocking.

Two knocks were heard at the door of the Potions Master's office and with a loud click and creak, he opened the door, letting her in.

"Miss Granger." The baritone voice of Severus Snape said in greet.

"Professor Snape," She said somberly, walking inside of his office with some hesitation.

"What's the purpose of you visit if I may ask? I would think you'd already be joyfully celebrating with your _friends_ your last hour before you leave Hogwarts." He sneered at her.

"I believe _sir_, we'd already had a previous appointment to meet today. I would think your memory is as good as your cynicism to be able to remember that much." She responded, unafraid, with the same sharp tone he gave her.

Several moments of silence passed between the wizard and the witch. Both of them looking deep into each other's eyes, never looking away. He was debating if he should respond to her boldness, or if he should let it pass.

"Severus please," Hermione sighed, tired of their much-too-long pregnant pause, "Drop the mask. We'll never see each other again." She said lowering her eyes, ignoring the pang of sudden sadness running through her.

"Care for a cup of tea, _Miss Granger_?" He stated in the most monotonous voice he had.

"If you please, yes." She said and proceeded to sit in one of his, all-too-known-for-her, chairs in the small dining room, adjacent to his office.

They both drank their tea silently, Severus's gaze never leaving his cup of tea, while Hermione's couldn't take away hers from her potions professor.

"Miss Granger, it's unnerving having to stand your constant stare-" "-Oh please!" Hermione interrupted him, standing up. "You know as well as I do, I can feel your emotions as you can feel mine. Don't even think about making this whole deal as if last year didn't happen." She said, her cheeks flushed with anger.

"But I thought that's what _you_ wanted." He placed his cup on the table, and standing up; he could see her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.

"I… Please don't make this harder than it already is." She whispered lowering her eyes to the floor, ignoring the intense stare of the black orbs. "I came here to say goodbye."

Severus walked towards her, and with the most delicacy, he removed her hair from her shoulders, uncovering her neck. Hermione flinched but remained still at his touch. A wandless spell was all he needed for him to see the fang marks, now scars, on her neck, previously covered by a glamour.

"Do you regret it?" He suddenly said, after a few minutes of silence, his fingertips barely touching her white scar. She shivered at his touch, but it somehow comforted her.

"I… don't kn- no. No, I don't." She finally said, shaking her head.

"I'm not proud of it. Losing control like that was never my intention, and even less putting you through it." Severus continued, and removed his hand from her skin, Hermione ignoring the disappointment in her from the lack of touch. "But I must admit I would've preferred if you didn't glamour it."

"And then what? People pay attention, Severus. And as much as I hate it, after the war, Harry hasn't been the only one being the spot of attention. And you should know it too. Besides," She said caressing with her hand her neck scars, "I don't feel comfortable knowing everybody can see it. When I look at myself in the mirror, I…"

"You feel ashamed of what happened." He finished for her.

"N-no! That's not it; it's just that-" "-Don't lie to me, woman. I can feel it. Your remorse, your _shame_. You tell me you don't regret it and yet, you can't even stand looking at it!"

Now he was angry. Hermione could almost feel her blood boiling with the anger Severus was emitting. He walked to the other side of the room, and looked out the only window his office and chambers provided; the pitch-dark depths of the Black Lake could be seen from there.

"It's complicated," She whispered to him after she felt his anger subside a little bit. "I'm not going to lie, the bite you gave me wasn't only a bonding element, but it also made me feel physically fine. I'm not saying it would've been what I most desired in the world, but it somehow felt… right. And I knew, even though I was half conscious and freezing to death, that I wanted nothing more but make that moment everlasting."

She said in a low tone, slowly walking until she was just behind Severus.

"I never meant to hurt you, Severus." She stated in a cracked voice, and he finally turned to look at her.

"It was never your fault for you to be my mate."

"You love me." She said, looking straight into his black eyes.

"And how does that make _you_ feel?"

"I honestly don't know. Confused, overwhelmed, and somehow futile because I-" "You feel something else, Hermione. I know because I can feel it. And don't you try to deny it. Yes, it wasn't your fault for you to be my mate. It's also not your fault you feel helpless because of your involvement with my godson," Hermione could feel the pang of sudden hurt he felt, "and yes, you loving him is not something I can control. You've loved him even before I realised you were my mate. All my hopes of finally finding true love had already been buried deep in the depths of my despair. But then, you arrived." He said, and he cupped her cheek.

"There's no reason to cry." He said with a soft and silky voice, wiping with his thumb a lonely crystal tear rolling from her eyes. He lowered himself so he could be eyed level with her and said, "I'm so happy you could find love at such young age, Hermione. They say that finding your one true love is a rare thing. A scarce and magnificent thing. It's something so pure and yet so ardent; you feel your whole body burning with anticipation at the mere sight of that person. Finding it at such age, only defines how big one's soul is. And it's such a shame I found it almost at forty." He said with melancholy, the last part only a mere whisper.

Hermione was silently crying over Severus' words, her heart torn, "If my words upset you I'll stop." He said, "It excruciates and tortures me to have and feel you're only feeling pain."

"I'm confused," She said through a cracked voice. "Severus…" she whispered getting closer to him, "Show me you love me." She finished with a whisper so soft and delicate, Severus wouldn't have heard if it were not for his heightened veela senses.

Sensing she was anxious and afraid he slowly, yet carefully, got closer inch by inch, until the small gap between them closed and his lips brushed against hers.

With the softness of an evening sun and the delicacy of a rose petal, Severus kissed Hermione on the lips, almost hesitantly. Full of devotion and love, he kissed her as if they were no tomorrow. The kiss was tender, but it was full of passion and adoration.

Severus remembered his first kiss, a sloppy, dull and tasteless experience. He had just received the dark mark, and as a present, Voldemort had given him the "pleasure" of fucking a young, Muggle girl just before she was killed. It was his first time having sex, and he'd kissed the young lass, hopelessly trying to _feel_ what it felt being loved. After the depressing experience, he decided he would reserve himself from kissing any girl he didn't love. Of course, years later he vaguely remembered kissing a prostitute when he was more than just plastered with alcohol and other drugs.

But this kiss, felt like everything he'd ever hoped it to be, and more. It wasn't only the sweet seduction of the kiss slowly filling his mind with desire and fervor, but there was love in it as well.

He grazed her soft curls with one hand while the other gently grasped her lower back fully enveloping her with him. Her small hands, after moments of precipitation, got the enough courage and caressed his hair. Hermione felt like nothing she'd felt before. The kiss was so intense and yet so gentle; she couldn't think properly when he pressed his lips against hers. She couldn't exactly compare it to kissing Draco because it was a whole different sensation. He stroked her neck in a loving way, his hand going from her neck and collarbone all the way to her arms, his hand grasping her small hand touching his face.

He broke the kiss as gently as he started it, and he stared at her eyes, a little sigh coming out from her lips. He looked at her and saw her dilated pupils, her flushed cheeks with the rosy glow he much adored. Her lazy, silky curls were a bit dishevelled from the kiss and her parted lips were swelled, and they reminded Severus of a fresh, juicy strawberry, ready to be eaten.

Hermione saw Severus with eyes she'd never seen him before, and it confused her. His face was also flushed and even though he still had a pale, sallow skin, she could see a faint trace of a blush on his cheekbones. His deep dark eyes were bright obsidian, and for the first time, she didn't feel afraid of them.

They stood looking at each other, their ragged breathing the only audible sound in the room. Words running dry, several moments passed between the two, and Hermione's body was suddenly pushed not-so-gently against the nearest wall, and Severus was kissing her again, only that this time it was with more fervor and unhidden lust than the last one.

His kisses began to be more fierce and desperate. Desperate of the fear of being torn away from her. Bodies entwining together, they became defenseless and silent beings, consumed by the silent, yet ardent flames of yearning. Hearing the sweet and intoxicating sound of her moaning, Severus kissed her jaw and proceeded to embrace and kiss her neck, wanting to hear more of her alluring sounds.

"Stay with me." He whispered into her earlobe, his fangs already sticking out to bite into his mate once more. He would've lost control over his senses and bite her if it wasn't for the sudden feeling of being torn apart he felt. With all his might and effort, he withdrew from her neck and faced his mate, her face full of doubt and her eyes started to tear up with lucid tears. It was obvious his statement had caused a distraught on the witch, for she looked as if she were petrified. She looked up at him and tried to shake her head. "I-I didn't mean…" She started but was silenced by a kiss on her forehead.

"I understand." Was all he said before stepping slightly away from her.

"Hermione." Cupping her face with both of his hands he told her softly, "You make me sick," feeling the sudden sadness from her, "Because I love you so." He finished. "And I also know how you're feeling about me, but I can't force you to understand it, knowing these feelings will soon pass. You'll forget about me, and you'll live happily at the side of Draco."

"But…" She said, unable to finish.

"I understand you're confused. It's only natural your feelings have changed over the course of time, as it is also natural you'll learn to forget easily with my absence and the passing of time." He said. He walked slowly to his office and retrieved something from a counter.

"And what if I don't want to forget?" She said out loud without thinking, and he turned his head to look at her.

"Will you, Hermione Jean Granger," He said, using her full name "Be willing to sacrifice and forget any future with young Draco Malfoy?" She looked solemnly at him without saying a word; the only thing expressing her feelings were the deep and intense emotions of distraught and sorrow Severus felt in his veins, blood and heart.

"I-I love him," She said, her voice cracking.

"I know you do," He muttered, grabbing a piece of her back hair with one hand. "And that's why," He said and with a pair of scissors, cut the strand of hair he was holding. "I need this bit of your hair. To be able and successfully create the potion." He said, placing her strand of curls in a silver box. He then again, went to retrieve something from his office.

"Wait, you're still not thinking of…?"

"And what else do you suggest me to do Hermione?" He said returning, a sad smile on his lips. "You leave me no choice, my_ love,_" He said, and before she could even say anything he told her, "Goodbye." And placed a small object in her hand, and not only one second passed, and she was in her room.

Looking at her surroundings, she saw the broken pendant Severus used to wear before and realised he converted it into a portkey.

Half an hour away from their departure, Hermione sat on her bed clutching with one hand the pendant, and felt a pain in her chest, while silent tears betrayed her eyes, not yet processing the fact she would never see him again.

_**October 1999**_

Living with Harry in Grimmauld Place was nothing new to Hermione with the sole exception, there was not only Kreacher living in it too, but the food was far more wholesome than in the many months they were on the run. And she had her own bedroom too. The three of them fell into a cooking routine, having them all knowing only bits of cooking and Hermione's complaints to Kreacher of him not having to do everything in the house, as Harry and her both had hands to do the cooking. But they were grateful Mrs. Weasley would come ever so often and cook something for them, or now and then there was a dinner in the Burrow, they would take the leftovers (if there were any) back home.

As 12 Grimmauld Place also served as a safe house for the Order, they consistently received visits either to receive a member order to stay the night (their most frequent visitor being Lupin), an Order meeting, or even a friendly get-together. Besides Ron and Remus with Teddy, their respective partners were the ones who usually hung around the house. At first, having Draco over to dinner, or even to stay in the afternoon had caused a problem between him and Harry, their crummy background between the two stopping them from being nice to each other. The tension building up every time he came had to be stopped by Hermione, who felt like a mother scolding her children, when she had to talk to both of about their behaviour towards the other, and that finally seemed to appease the situation. She was happy it had somehow worked out because every once in a while she would hear Draco say "I saw Potter today at the Ministry," or Harry say "I don't know what's Malfoy working on, but we crossed paths at lunch time and decided to eat together." She knew they weren't and may never be the best of friends, but after months of seeing each other so regularly, they began to treat each other in a friendlier manner.

The same happened with Draco's friends as well as Harry and Hermione's. Since Luna was dating Blaise, it wasn't so uncommon to see him around every time Luna came over. She loved to play with Lupin's son as well as hanging with Ginny and Hermione; in the end, they were her first female friends, so she valued their friendship more than ever. Draco too sometimes invited Blaise over when Hermione told him Harry had invited them with drinks alongside Neville, Luna, Ginny and Ron. So even though they'd never thought before of befriending each other, the eight youngsters got along pretty well after months of hanging together.

Hermione, true to her elf association, known as S.P.E.W., applied and started working at the Ministry. She worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, under the division of Beings, more specifically in the Office for House-Elf Relocation. Although she felt she was doing some good to Elf society, trying to propose some ideas to aid the elfs, she was seriously thinking about changing to the Office of Werewolf Support Services, as she hated to see Remus' everyday struggle with the prejudices society imposed on werewolves.

Draco, on the other hand, had begun working as an Unspeakable, and although he would sometimes tell Hermione little bits about his days, she didn't pry for more details, not wanting to endanger his job. He also began working on a new manor for her mother to live in. Although he was currently living with her, he told Hermione he was planning on building himself a new manor when he got a little older.

_"It's not that I don't want to live with my mother, because I know how lonely she can get, and I love her to death. But I want to build a manor for my family, and even though she loves kids, I know she would prefer to live alone rather than with small kids running in the hallways. Besides, my father gets out of prison in a year, and I wouldn't like raising my children anywhere near him." _Hermione had then remembered how nervous she was at Draco mentioning a family and children.

Mid-October came, and Hermione found herself lying comfortably in one of the drawing room's sofas, reading a book. It was a Friday afternoon, and almost everyone had the day off, so Harry and Hermione decided to invite everyone to dinner. Ginny was at the tryouts for the Holy Head Harpies, Neville told them he couldn't come because he'd already promised Hannah they would have dinner with her parents, Fred and George were overloaded with work and told them they would be there the next time, Draco was still at work, Harry and Ron were in the kitchen with Remus, and that left Hermione in the drawing room with Luna and Teddy.

"You sure like children Luna." Remus commented hearing Luna's giggles at Teddy as he walked in, a glass of dragon barrel brandy in hand.

"Oh yes. I've never had the opportunity to interact much with them before, as my only family is my father and aunt; her only son drowned when I was only four. She didn't know the father." She said nonchalantly, and Hermione and Remus shared a look before Luna continued, "And ever since I babysat the children of one of my father's friends years ago, I decided I love them. I can't wait to have my own." She said beaming at young Teddy, who was playing on the floor with a toy hippogriff.

"Don't mention that to Blaise just yet." Hermione joked, "Or you might just scare him!" She said and Remus laughed.

"Oh, I'm not planning on tell him that. It was enough the meeting with my father to have him scared enough." She sighed, remembering the first time Blaise met him, "I'm lucky he still wants to date me." She said, touching the rosebud earrings Blaise gave her on her birthday.

"Then he must really care about you if you say your father scared him so." Remus noted and Hermione nodded in agreement. "Where is he by the way?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, he's still at work-" "-I'm here!" The cheerful voice of Ginny Weasley interrupted her as she got out from the fireplace in sweaty, Quidditch robes. "How did it go?" The voice of Harry Potter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and in a blink of an eye, he was embracing Ginny. "Harry! I'm all dirty and sweaty!" She sighed in frustration as her wizard didn't seem to care in the least and continued to hug her. "You know I don't give a damn about it." He said giving her a peck on the lips. "Now, how'd it go?"

"Let me first take a shower and I'll tell you all the details," She said smiling, making her way to the bedrooms.

Minutes later, Draco and Blaise came in from the Ministry. Harry and Ron weren't official Aurors yet, and their "working" and training hours happened to be variant, but that afternoon they coincided with Hermione with their afternoon off, contrasting with Blaise and Draco who had to work over hours, Draco as an Unspeakable and Blaise in the Department of Magical Transportation, applying Apparition Tests.

They all ate Sheperd's pie, a dish Luna had to do mostly all by herself, seeing the abysmal cooking skills from both Harry and Hermione (she was seriously considering taking cooking lessons). At the table, Luna was feeding Teddy, who changed his golden brown hair to the green colour of the peas, and couldn't stop beaming at him, Draco and Blaise discussed some work affairs they could do together, and Ginny was telling the others her audition for the Holyhead Harpies.

"They almost said I could only audition to for the part of keeper, because they already had the possible next players for the other positions until Gwenog came and told the others she'd seen me play as a chaser at the match against Ravenclaw, and that I was easily the best from the other finalists." She said excitedly, "So I played with the last group of the day, and even though results will be posted in the next two weeks, they practically told me in the end I was already in." She chirped, and they all made a toast in her name.

After dinner they were all gathered in the drawing room, they were either chatting, drinking, or doing something entirely different. Hermione was washing some of the dishes the Muggle way when she overheard Harry talking to Draco near the kitchen door.

"… she hasn't eaten very well lately. And I've already asked her about it, but she always brushes me away." Harry was saying to Draco. "I believe her parents absence is affecting her more as time passes by."

Although her parents absence was in part, the reason for her late, blue humour, they weren't the only reason. Not wanting to worry her friends, she'd told them Severus had found a cure, and he left. She knew they didn't buy it very well, Draco even less, but they didn't pry on it. As long as Severus Snape wasn't a problem, they didn't care very much. All for the exception of Draco.

Hermione remembered with bitterness the memory of months ago, recalling the feelings of guilt she'd had with the news Fleur had told her days after their graduation from Hogwarts. She had then spent the following weeks trying to send Severus letters, but they all came back within days, unopened. She decided to bury the feelings she'd been harbouring for Severus the past year and follow his life advice: Live hers happily. Although she knew her life couldn't be entirely fulfilled with the absence of her parents, Hermione had thought she was happy. Apparently not.

_Some days after her departure from Hogwarts, Molly Weasley decided to make a dinner in celebration for Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Ron graduating from Hogwarts. Hermione was surprised at first with Mrs. Weasley's invitation, deducing the witch would have an everlasting grudge against her, for breaking her son's heart. But seeing she was almost as happy as Ginny with Harry dating her, she suspected all was forgiven, and she was treated like a daughter once more. Just after dessert, when everyone was chatting happily in the living room, Fleur Weasley motioned Hermione to come with her outside for a minute, to talk about how she was dealing with the veela._

"_But you said… 'e takes a potion?" Fleur asked her cautiously, with eyes of concern after Hermione explained her the whole story again, and the why she wasn't already bonded with him. _

_Hermione felt nervous under her stare, but decided to tell her truth; she was too, a terrible liar for that matter._

_"Yes. He said he's planning on taking a trip to Rumania; his purpose is to develop a potion strong enough to inhibit his veela self long enough to live a "normal" life until he dies." She said, and Fleur's eyes widened._

"'_E can't do that! 'E'll die!" Fleur exclaimed with distress, and Hermione couldn't feel more guilty. "'Ermione, do you realize you've practically sent 'im to 'is death?"_

"_I told him I didn't want him to go, okay?" She snapped. "I did. And he basically ignored me by telling me this was for the best."_

_"Even though this "new" potion as 'e calls eet, will diminish 'is instincts, eet won't change 'is feelings for you. And eet might accelerate the process of 'is death. Being too much time away from the mate ez not good for a veela. And eet is even worse if the time away ez outside of the country. Quarter-veela or full-veela, they're both affected by eet."_

Snapping out from her memory she heard Draco say, "I promised her we would look for her parents once school was over, but she keep avoiding the topic every time I mention it." Hermione felt guilty. In truth, she still didn't want to look for her parents. Not because she didn't love them or didn't miss them, but the news about the remaining Death Eaters killing Muggle-Borns and blinding random wizards were getting bigger as time passed by. And even though Kingsley still managed to keep it a secret to the general public, people were starting to notice something wasn't right. Hermione didn't want to risk it and lose her parents by making them a target, so the thought of returning their memories didn't appeal her so much. She preferred having them not knowing her rather than having them dead.

Night came, and just as she was getting to bed, she heard a knock on her door. "Harry?" She said as she saw a pair of bright green eyes looking at her.

"I wanted to talk to you," He said, entering her room. "I thought Ginny had stayed over…" She said. "She's asleep now, besides, it'll be quick," He told her, sitting on her bed.

"Well then, what did you wanted to talk about?" She asked sitting also on her bed, already knowing the answer.

"'Mione… I'm worried. And it's not just me, Malfoy has noticed it too, and even Ginny. We know you obliviated your parents to keep them safe but… we also know you're missing them. And it's not doing you any good."

"Harry, you don't know how much I think about them. Every single day I always wonder why don't I just go to Australia and remove the charm. Every. Single. Day. And I too, think every single day, the danger they might be in if I do that.

"Harry," She said, taking his hand in hers. "There are still Death Eaters roaming through the country, killing people. And you know as well as I do, they won't hesitate a second to make them a target just because of my relation to you. I'm afraid they'll die." She said with a trembling voice. "'Mione," Harry said, placing his other hand over their linked hands squeezing them, "Kingsley is Minister of Magic. You know him as well as I do. We could protect your parents even better than we tried in the war. You don't have to suffer anymore." He said tenderly, and she nodded. "I-I'll talk to Draco in the morning." She said and looked up at him, her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She threw her arms around Harry and began to sob. "Harry I miss them so much, I think about them every day. It's torture Harry, torture!"

"I know 'Mione, I know." He said rubbing her back.

* * *

The windy and humid air of Sydney is what received Hermione and Draco as they arrived there. It was much more warm and sunny than in England, and they couldn't help but remove their coats when they stepped out from the wizard's store from which they arrived.

After her talk to Draco, the morning after she broke into tears in Harry's arms, Draco and she embarked in their trip to restore her parent's memories. They walked hand in hand through the streets of Sydney until they came to a little sweet shop on a small street, close to the coast. _**"Granger's sweet shop"**_ was the name of the little store and Hermione couldn't help the chuckle at the irony. _They're going to flip once I restore their memories and find out what they did for a living here. _She thought.

"You know I love you right?" Draco said to her, kissing her temple just before they entered and Hermione looked at him with loving eyes. "I love you more," She told her and gave him a peck.

They entered the little store at the same time and Hermione couldn't stop herself but take in a sharp breath at the sight of both of her parents, happy and well after two years of not seeing them. Mr. and Mrs. Granger both looked up with curiosity at the entering pair and they welcomed them in.

"_Mum? Dad?_" She whispered to them.

* * *

**A/N: I promise I'll try my best to upload in less than three weeks! Please review, and keep reading! **


	19. Facing Reality

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long pause. Wasn't writer's block, it was only too many things happening in my life, depression, whatevs so I couldn't finish the chapter I've had half of it since February. Anyways, I'm uploading this very late in the night so I'm hoping for an awful lot of grammar mistakes and so on, but I couldn't wait any longer and I decided to upload it as it is (of COURSE when I wake up, I'll try and correct them). I want to thank all of you who reviewed this, followed this, and whashasha this. And any doubt, comment or whatever you like to communicate to me, I'm open to it.**

***UPDATE*: I'm still correcting grammar mistakes, I don't know why but when I upload this, the document sometimes eats words (especially names), and it's so frustating because it makes a sentence incomprehensible and arghh! Anyway, I also wanted to say to ma beautiful Australian readers if it was okay to say "Parliment" because I just googled the type of government Australia has but I don't live there so I don't know for sure.**

**Hope you guys like it, very much hope any feedback from you, so that means reviews and I also hope you stick to this story.**

**Enjoy and review :***

* * *

Mr. And Mrs. Granger both looked curiously at the strange couple who had just entered their sweet shop.

"I'm sorry dear?" Helen Granger said, not quite sure of what Hermione had said, and her husband just nodded at them before entering back further into the shop.

"I-I meant to say-" Hermione stuttered a bit, and Draco continued, "My girlfriend and I just arrived, and we're always craving for something sweet whenever we travel, and we happened to bump into your shop. We were just surprised at the number of sweets there are" Draco said courteously flashing a white smile at Helen Granger, and she smiled at him in return, blushing ever so slightly at how courteous Draco was being and Hermione sighed in relief. She made a mental note about thanking Draco later. "Oh, You're from England! So are my husband and me, what a coincidence! Wendell!" She called and went inside the back door of the shop.

"I thought your father's name was Robert," Draco whispered at Hermione furrowing his eyebrows. "It is, but I couldn't risk their safety by keeping their names, we may already be at peril by coming here. They're Monica and Wendell Wilkins for now." She whispered back.

"Hullo!" Robert Granger saluted them as he got out, along with his wife, from the back door of the shop. "Wendell Wilkins at your service," He said extending his hand towards Draco. "Draco Malfoy," he said, shaking his hand, "Pleased to meet you, sir."

"Draco Malfoy, such… interesting and uncommon name I must say. Pleasure." Robert said, smiling at Draco. "And this is my lovely wife, Monica." He gestured with his arm at the woman, with the same eyes as Hermione, at his right and she smiled warmly at them.

"And you are?" Mrs. Granger said to Hermione.

"I-I'm Hermione Granger." She said after several seconds trying to find her voice, smiling softly at the couple. Robert chuckled. "Such a small world isn't it? The last owner's name was Granger, and since he was the one who built this place, we didn't have the heart to name it "Wilkins' sweet shop"." Robert explained putting an arm around his wife's shoulders, missing the look of dismay on Hermione's face. "Besides, I believe Granger is a more catchy name than Wilkins don't you think?" He said, and Helen barely nodded, her mind elsewhere.

"Hermione…." Helen said, drifting her eyes as if remembering something, "I always thought of naming my daughter Hermione if I ever had one." She said smiling rather sadly to herself and then turned to Robert, an idea sprouting in her head. "Wendell dear, why don't we invite Hermione and Mr. Malfoy some tea?" She said and turned to smile at the couple, forgetting to use any formalities with Hermione. "My husband and I are both tea lovers; we're especially fond of-" _Earl Grey_, Hermione silently mouthed to herself, following her mother through the door behind the counter.

The door led to a back room where Helen guided Draco and Hermione in. The little room had a small, round table with five chairs, a small bookcase in a corner with a few books on it, a counter with a small telly and few other miscellaneous stuff -varying from a car keys to magazines to a sewing kit- on it, and there were also two more doors, leading deeper into the building on each side of the walls. _One of them must be the loo_ Hermione thought, seating herself in one of the chairs, while her mother offered them tea.

The conversation went nicely enough even though Hermione couldn't shake away the sentiment of chasm her parents provoked in her entirely. It wasn't only bizarre, but also a little sad, having to introduce yourself to the ones who gave birth to you and many years of their time. The only good thing about this was that Hermione knew for a fact, her parents were genuinely good people. They seemed a little suspicious at first when Draco introduced himself, for it was true, his name wasn't remotely common nor heard in the Muggle world, and his last name even less, coming from an ancient magical family. Nonetheless, Hermione felt mostly nervous and happy, to finally see them again.

As Draco excused himself to use the loo and Mr. Granger went to attend some customers, Mrs. Granger turned towards Hermione smiling affectionately, and for a second, Hermione almost forgot she'd obliviated them both, and she was in Australia to retrieve not only them, but their memories as well. "Your husband seems to enjoy his job," Hermione said with a nervous smile, trying not to look too uncomfortable. "Oh bless him," Her mother replied with a smile, "I love that everything he does, he does it with love." She smiled at Hermione, and she couldn't help but lower her eyes at her hands.

"I rather get the feeling I've known you from somewhere, Miss Granger." Helen said after seconds of silence, taking a sip from the cup, missing the sudden paleness the young witch presented on her features, "Any chance we'd met in England before? My husband and I used to live in Bristol up until two years ago when we both had the brilliant idea of moving here to Sydney." She said warmly, and Hermione drank –or rather drowned- hastily the remains of her tea while shaking her head sideways. "I don't think so," she said gulping, "I'm from Devon." She said trying to sound convincing, the Burrow first coming into her mind, and hoping her mother would fall for it.

"Oh." Was the only thing the older woman responded and Hermione could almost swear she caught a glimpse of disappointment in her eyes. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and as she looked up, she saw Draco seating himself again in the chair next to her, smiling politely at her mother.

"I believe I now know why the stereotype exists. Look at us, as true English people!" Her mother suddenly exclaimed, startling both Hermione and Draco "Not even half an hour has passed, and we're all out of tea! I better bring some more. Just wait here a few minutes and tea will be ready." She said, wiping her cheeks as if she had cried, and carried the cup tray to one of the adjacent rooms further inside the shop; _the kitchen_ Hermione presumed.

"How are you feeling?" Draco murmured, pressing a gentle kiss on her temple while intertwining his fingers with her trembling ones.

"I'm… doing decisively finer than I thought I would." She said squeezing a bit his fingers, "But I can't deny this is rather odd. I never would've thought to introduce myself as a complete _stranger_ to my parents, or to stomach the image of them not even recognizing her daughter and be happy about it." Her eyes began to water and taking a deep breath; she closed her eyes.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself love," Draco reassured her, "They're not happy because their lives would be _better_ without you, they're happy because they think they never had a daughter. Once you remove the charm, believe me," He said and raised her chin to make her look at his eyes, "their smiles will only grow."

"Thank you, Draco. You've been really helpful today. I don't know what would I've done by myself." Her lips broke into a small smile, and a single tear rolled down her cheeks. "One more thing, though," she wiped the tear away, "I also can't shake away the feeling of someone watching us."

"Would you be more comfortable if I send a patronus to Potter?" He asked retrieving his wand from his pocket.

"Draco put it away! You know we can't do magic in the presence of Muggles!" Hermione said in a panicky whisper, "And why would you send a patronus to Harry?" She asked with mild curiosity in her tone, wondering too, when exactly had he learned how to do the Patronus Charm.

"You mother told us to wait a few minutes before she returns with the tea; this will only take a minute to send. And I'll send a patronus to Potter because not only is he training to become an Auror, but he's also of great influence in the Ministry. I'll tell him to contact with the Australian Magic Parliament to send us a couple of Aurors, just in case." He said standing up, a white fox emerging from his wand moments later.

"Better?" He whispered in her ear, noting her wandering eyes moving from the disappearing fox to his wand, quickly secured inside his black coat, to finally rest on the unopened kitchen door. Nodding her head, she sighed in relief and grasped his hand as he sat down next to her.

"You must tell me where did you learn how to do the charm. There's no possible way you could've learned it at Hogwarts," She asked with curiosity on her voice. "But then again, I don't remember ever seeing a Death Eater being able to perform one before." He could almost see the working gears inside her mind, and before she could think any further, he replied sourly "You would be surprised."

She looked up at him surprised, and just as she was about to reply, her father came back from the counter with a happy smile and a bottle of what looked like an artisan rum of sorts on his hand, his eyes lazily resting on the young couple's intertwined hands. Out of reflex, she quickly tried to untangle her hand from Draco's, only to look up at him with guilt and a slight blush on her face a second later, remembering her father would now care less if she was in a relationship of any sort.

Trying to ignore the little exchange the odd couple did, Robert called out his wife as he merrily took out four goblet glasses from the counter in the small room. "Would you fancy some rum?" He politely asked Hermione, and she gently refused. "Thank you, but I'm not so much of a drinker." She said slightly shaking her head. He turned to Draco, and not wanting to displease him, he reluctantly accepted the goblet, looking at it with somewhat suspicious eyes.

They all sat down the table, everyone, with the exception of Hermione, had both a cup of tea and an empty goblet in their side of the table.

Pouring some rum into the goblets, Robert Granger turned to his wife, "I believe we should make a toast."

"What for?"

"Well," He said now turning to the young couple, "It's not every day you find yourself with peers from across the world, but we should toast for the happiness we've been blessed with." Goblets, and a tea cup, in hand, they clinked their drinks and just before Draco had some, he sniffed his goblet, and with a face of horror he yelled: "DON'T DRINK IT!" Towards Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

Hermione didn't exactly know what was happening until she heard her father choking on his goblet and saw the moving figure of Draco lounging himself across the table to stop him from drinking further. Her mother, luckily she didn't taste the rum, started screaming as her husband began to convulse, making him fall off his chair. A loud noise made them all jump and in an instant Draco had his wand on hand, ready for any attack, and the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. _Death Eaters._

Everything became silent for a few seconds and as Draco began placing all kinds of locking and shield charms on the door, Hermione moved to help her mother with her convulsing father, whose face was a dark shade of purple and his eyes had become white. "What's wrong with him? What is happening?" Her mother desperately whisper-shouted to Hermione, her face stained with tears as she tried to lift her -suddenly heavy as lead- husband off from the floor. "I don't know," Hermione said in a small voice, helping her, "I believe the rum he drank was actually poison. Don't worry; he will be fine. He will be fine" She reassured her in a trembling, and ragged voice and Hermione was afraid she wasn't so sure she believed it so herself. Placing him on the nearest wall, Hermione turned to Draco, who was leaning against the wall beside the door which led to the main store. The sound of glass breaking and the jamming of the door startled both wizard and witch. They looked into each other eyes, and she whispered "I love you" to him before he made a motion with his eyes to her mother and father and she nodded her head with understanding. Draco crouched and opened the door to the main store, firing as many hexes and defense spells he knew towards the hasty Death Eaters outside.

Hermione tried to calm down her mother, who was visibly too shaken to process everything happening, and she could see out of the corner of her eye there weren't just a _few _Death Eaters, there were more. One of them saw her, and she was barely able to duck with her mother and convulsing father before she heard someone scream _Reducto_, making the wall separating the main store from where they were, crumble into pieces. Hermione managed to stun one Death Eater and before she could stun another one, a jet of red was shot at her way, barely missing her by inches. She turned and saw the white mask of a Death Eater looking at her, recognition in his dark eyes. "_That's her! That's the Mudblood! Kill her!" _She paled and just as she tried to run to the next room with her parents, she slipped and fell with the remains of the rum and tea scattered on the floor. Merely moments before she hit the floor, she heard the words _Avada Kedavra _and she knew she this would be her end. Hands first, she collapsed against the ground and she closed her eyes before the curse could hit her. Only that, she never felt it. Bare seconds passed and with mild relief, she realised the curse hadn't stricken her. Sending an _Expluso _at the entrance to gain some minutes to think she turned, and horrified, saw her mother crying inconsolably at the unmoving man beneath her. _No. _She approached silently towards her parents and choking back a sob, she closed her father's eyelids and kissed his forehead carefully, whispering in his ear "I love you," before taking two deep breaths to be able to concentrate.

Dragging her almost-too-shocked-to-move mother further into the room, Hermione made a two-second pause to look at her. Her face –stained with tears- had taken a bloodless colour, her lips were dry, and her deep brown eyes, much resembling her daughter's, now showed fear and disorientation. Feeling the adrenaline through her blood, Hermione decided it was now or never. Isolating her mind from everything and anyone (including her _This is a bad idea!_ thoughts), she began undoing the memory charm she'd placed on her mother's mind two years and five months ago. _Just let her recognize my face for one moment more, even if it's the last thing we do_ she desperately thought, her mind fiercely trying to concentrate on the spell and block away the alarming sounds getting nearer to them.

Just before she could finish with the spell, she heard her mother's soft plea "Hermione" before she saw an orange, blinding flash coming at them. Hitting Hermione, it sent her and her mother flying backward into the kitchen, collapsing against the cardboard boxes, full of inventory, which was piled up against the wall.

Candy falling all over them, Hermione felt not only pain from the collision but also and unimaginable burning all over her. Suddenly feeling a warm, sticky substance in her abdomen, she realised it was her blood, quickly staining her clothes with a bright scarlet colour. She heard a gasp and looked up to the fearful face of her mother, who was too frightened even to move. They locked eyes, and for a mere second Hermione didn't know if there was a trace of something akin to recognition in her mother's eyes. She couldn't be sure because, a moment later, her mother's eyes wandered to her lower body and the almost-recognition look in her changed to a one of terror. She looked up again, and as if searching her with her eyes, she whispered with an estranged voice "Who am I?". Seeing the shocked expression on her mother's face and swallowing bile, Hermione gathered all her strength, untangled her arm from the piles of candy and reached for her wand. She mouthed _Stupefy_ and directed her wand at her mother, who silently fell unconscious over the fallen boxes and candy. _She doesn't need to see this. _

Panting, she made a move to sit up and a sharp burn alongside a deep pain engulfed her. _Wrong move. _A sudden explosion caught her attention, and she saw as part of the ceiling and upper floor in the store came down, a deep cloud of dust formed, blocking her sight from everything else. She could faintly hear Draco calling her name, his shadow slowly coming near her.

Seconds later, a pair of greyish blue orbs looked down at her, and she knew it didn't matter if she died right there. She would be safe. "D-Draco," Her voice rasped, and he hushed her with a finger, "It's fine love, everything will be okay. Help is on the way." He said kissing her forehead and proceeded to stop her bleeding with the few spells he knew with nervous hands. _"Gods, what the fuck happened to you?"_ Draco whispered worriedly at seeing how quickly all of her clothing and floor began to stain with crimson. She made a motion with her hand, and he looked at her unconscious mother, then to his bloody clothes, worry filling his eyes. "She's… she's alive," She whispered to him, "Tried to recover her memories but my father-" She stopped mid-sentence as an agonizing burning suddenly took over her, making her already-weak body arch with pain, a soundless scream arising in her lips. It was too much to bear. Gasping lamely, she began mumbling incoherent declarations of love towards Draco, knowing she wouldn't survive.

"Hermione love, please stay with me," She heard the voice of Draco say to her, but her eyes were already closing. "Don't," He stated in a panicky voice "Don't close your eyes on me, Granger," He tried to shake her, and she heard a sudden commotion outside the wall of fallen pieces of ceiling, but the pain she was feeling was greater for her even to care about the noise. "You can't die on me, Granger. We need you. _I_ need you," He whispered in her hair, his tears falling on her dust-stained cheeks. Knowing the pain was probably too almighty for her even to _feel_ it anymore, she tried to form words, only coming as incoherent sounds, before she was consumed by darkness.

* * *

_She was walking down a navy blue road, nothing visible but her steps and a very dim light far on the infinite road. She was barefoot, wearing the same pale, thin white dress she'd wore in some far way memories. The path seemed endless, white flower petals flying all around the black space, and a small breeze brushed her chestnut curls. She did not know for how long she'd been walking, but she somehow knew she just had to keep going. After a while, she suddenly caught a black bench and a lamppost on the side of the road, a big figure seated on the bench, barely illuminated by the dim light of the post. She carefully approached the figure and saw it was a man, covered by what it looked like a pair of black wings. "Who are you?" she softly asked the man. "I'm merely the ghost of a distant memory." He replied elegantly, his face covered by a wall of hair and his body by the pair of wings. "And why did you leave?" She asked without thinking, surprising herself with the sudden question, as if she'd known this man before, in another time. "I believe you already know the answer to this issue." The man responded. She gave him a very long stare as she thought about it. It seemed years had passed when she finally replied "I didn't want you to leave." She responded to the man eerily familiar she thought she'd just met._

"_You're lying to yourself." He said, a dry tone in his voice._

"_No, I'm not. I believe I know my feelings, thank you." She was beginning to get flustered._

_"Your heart is blinded." He replied in above a whisper and before she could retort she heard a sound to her right and she turned to see a white door with a diamond doorknob, a few feet away from her._

_"You should go through it before it's too late." He told her._

"_What will I find there?" She asked, turning her head to him._

"_Your destiny."_

"_But I want to stay here, with you."_

"_It doesn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." He told her in a soft tone._

"_Will I ever see you again?"She asked nervously._

_"That is for you to decide." He only told her, "Now, __**go**__."_

_She started walking again towards the white door, and just as she was twisting the doorknob, she turned to see the man with the black wings once more and noticed he was gone._

* * *

Hermione woke in a room she did not recognize. She couldn't open her eyes very well, but what they managed to see, she assumed she was in a hospital for there were multiple beds in a row- some with curtains covering them- and everything was white. She ached all over, and when she tried to move her arm, she found she was just too tired even to try. She felt something strange clasping her right hand. She had a strong feeling it was a hand, and with her utmost efforts she decided to graze the unknown object with hers. The moment her hand made a shift, the object squeezed hers, and she felt movement around her; a strong, masculine and deliciously intimate scent brushing her nose.

"Merlin you're awake!" She heard a familiar voice call from her right side and some footsteps approaching her. Barely opening her eyes, she could see with the corner of them the tall figure of Draco Malfoy speaking quietly with a very skinny and languid nurse. "Please contact Harry Potter and tell him she's awaken."

She had just begun with the not-so-awful chocolate pudding her tray had when she saw the two doors almost slamming open by a petit witch with flaming red hair who was rapidly approaching her bed, closely followed by two familiar wizards.

Not even the word "Hey" escaped Hermione's lips when she was enveloped in the witch's arms. "Do you know how many days I spent not only traveling from England to here but also worrying myself sick about you?" The redhead said, her cheek against Hermione's head, "Eleven! Eleven bloody days without knowing if you would stay comatose forever!"

"It's good to see you too, Gin," Hermione replied with a small smile, hugging her back.

"We thought we'd almost lost you for a minute." Harry said with a smile, a bouquet of flowers on his hands "Where is Draco by the way?" He asked while Ginny made a move to grab the bouquet from his hands and gave it to the closest nurse with the words "Please put these on water for Miss Granger."

"He's in a floo call with his boss. Apparently, they're not letting me out for another five days, and he insisted on keeping me company until I leave." She said tiredly and sighed.

When she woke up, the first thing that happened was a lot of questioning being fired at her from not only the healers and Draco but also Aurors, concerning what had happened at her parents' sweet shop. Remembering flashbacks from the past events, she uncontrollably began crying at the memory of her parents, and it wasn't until an hour later when she'd finally calmed down, that she could answer some of their questions.

Allegedly, the day she traveled with Draco to Australia, a pair of Death Eaters had followed them to the sweet shop. They'd given her father the "new" blinding potion, disguising it as rum and giving it as a gift, hoping everybody would drink it. After the ordeal, she saw when her father drunk from his goblet, five Death Eaters (or so she heard Draco say) entered the shop and hell broke loose.

She was too distraught to pay attention to details, but what she managed to catch was that her father's official c.o.d was the killing curse, and her mother was residing in another part of the spell damage ward. They'd told her that as soon as Hermione was out from the hospital, her mother will be transferred to St Mungo's under a provincial name, for safety purposes. Thanks to Draco's influence in the wizarding society (she still had to thank him for that), she would be placed in a ward inside the Spell damage floor, special for Muggles.

The curse that had hit Hermione had made her unable to finish removing the charm, and her mother's memories all got mixed up. From not knowing who she was, she sometimes could remember things she'd done in her youth, combining them with memories from the present. Some of them included Hermione and her dead husband and some, ideas too bizarre for the healers to denote they weren't really her memories; they doubted a giant fish was ever her neighbor. Draco had told the healer he saw when the Death Eater cursed Hermione. Although he couldn't say what curse he used because _"he probably used nonverbal magic", _or so he said, the healer told Hermione she was probably alive because of that minor detail. _It sounds awfully lot familiar to the Battle of the Department of Mysteries_ Hermione sourly thought when they'd told her. She would have not only the scar from Dolohov's curse but also the little ones of this new one. Truth was, she really didn't have the strength to care about the scars, or the Aurors, or the healers. The guilt of her father's death and her mother's probable permanent brain damage made her troubled to the point of tears. The only good news was, she was told by the healers the memory charm she'd placed on her parent's mind would've probably stayed permanent if set longer and if it wasn't for the terrible misfortune, she might've arrived just in time to remove it without further consequence. But for Hermione, all she wanted was for Draco to hug all her worries away and forget about the world. She had never felt so weak before.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, snapping her out from her thoughts. "Why are you crying?" She hadn't noticed, but tears were running down her cheeks, and she wiped them off with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry, I just… remembered my parents." She said and saw the instant look of guilt on Harry's face. After all, it was he who suggested to Draco and then to Hermione the idea of going to get Hermione's parents in the first place. "'Mione I…" He started, but she cut him off "No Harry, I don't want any guilty apologies from your part. I heard you talking to Draco the other day before you spoke to me, and I want you to know that it was my final decision to go. You're not guilty of anything." She finished with a gentle smile, and although he visibly relaxed when she reached and grabbed his hand, he still had a guilty frown on his face.

After a couple of hours, Ginny, Harry and Ron, went back to England because after all, the country was nine hours behind on the clock and they were pretty tired, even though Harry and Ron were happy because they took the day off to come and visit Hermione, and they could still arrive and have plenty of time to sleep before dinner.

Visiting hours were almost over, and Draco had spent the rest of the evening at the side of Hermione. "You know what healer Morton told me when you woke up?" He whispered gently at her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Hmm?" She responded looking at him with her brown, tired eyes. "He said to me that for a curse of that magnitude, you should still be in coma for another two weeks or so." He said, and she widened her eyes, "He told me you are healing way quicker than any other regular wizard should. And you shouldn't be released from the hospital in a month Granger, but your progress is such, you should be perfectly capable of walking out just fine in five days. You do know why is that don't you?" He asked, and she saw the sudden sadness and bittersweetness in his eyes. "It's because of the veela venom is it not?" She asked meekly and kissing her knuckles, he nodded.

Night came, and after the awful lot of not-too-tasty potions Hermione had to take, she refused the sleeping draught a nurse offered her, she felt her blood and stomach already too intoxicated with the potions she already had.

Tossing around in the mildly comfortable bed, she felt an eerie feeling in the room, and she couldn't help but shiver; the room she was in felt nothing like the warmness of Hogwarts' hospital wing. She knew hospitals worked day and night, but she suddenly felt the environment way too calm and silent for a hospital, even though it was probably the dead of the night.

Looking to her side, she saw Draco sleeping in a somewhat awkward position on the small settee aside her bed; she cautiously got out of the bed, and tiptoeing all the way, she exited the room.

She discreetly started walking down the dark aisles from the hospital and she got the sudden thought of being inside a horror movie. The hallways seemed to be rather empty, and it looked as if the hospital was abandoned. _Is it just me, or is the general population of Australia healthy enough for the hospital to be half-empty? _She shook her thoughts away and started looking for the part of spell damage ward her mother was in.

Carefully making her way to the third floor, she realised she didn't know what room her mother was in, so she started looking for any sign of her mother's name in a pile of papers on the front desk of the ward she saw. Not sure if to look for the last name Wilkins or Granger, Hermione suddenly felt a chilly draft pass behind her, and she turned, catching a glimpse of a dark figure entering one of the back rooms on the right side of the ward. Leaving the papers behind, she abruptly had the strange feeling of following it, and she made her way, as quick as her condition made her, to the room.

Just before she entered, she saw a sign on the door that said "MUGGLES"; feeling reassured, she opened the door, and she found herself in a room full of beds, most of them empty, with sleeping patients.

Hermione moseyed, for she was nearly out of breath, throughout the room, and in the left corner she saw a woman, much resembling her mother, sleeping peacefully. "Oh mum!" She silently cried, and she approached the bed, grasping her unconscious mother's hand in hers. Kneeling at her side, she kissed her hand, and she couldn't help the tears forming in her eyes as she silently begged her for forgiveness.

"I should've known better." She whispered into her skin, her salty tears falling and staining her mother's bedsheets.

After a few overwhelming moments, she suddenly sensed she wasn't the only one awake in the room, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the same dark figure that let her in the room standing in the opposite corner.

"Who are you?" She asked softly, rising from her kneeling position, towards the dark figure. The dark figure abruptly moved, and she turned quickly, finding it had moved just behind her, but before she could do or say anything else, she suddenly saw black.

"Miss Granger? Can you hear me, Miss Granger?" A brilliant light in her left eye and a nasal female voice made her wake up and seeing blurry; she saw a rather bulky healer hovering over her with wand on hand, the tip shining brightly. "What happened?" She asked in a groggy voice and found she was lying on the floor, beside her mother's bed.

"That's exactly what we would like to ask to you, Miss Granger. I'm healer White." The healer said, helping her to a seating position. "You were found by one of the trainees helping a patient go to the toilet, and he told me you were unconscious, lying on the floor. Miss Granger, may I ask," She said, now helping Hermione stand up, "What exactly were you doing in a Muggle room, at three in the morning?" "I…." She tried to explain, but no answer came to her. Besides, she didn't know for sure how well was the security in the hospital, and she didn't know if the healer knew about her mother or not. She preferred not to risk it.

"It's alright; some patients sometimes suffer from side effects like sleep walking caused by some of the potions they take. You'll have a nurse accompany you to your room; you must be exhausted after all." She was. Making her way out of the chamber with wobbly legs, she saw Draco waiting for her alongside a nurse at the desk, and although she felt tired, she was relieved to see him, and guilty too. "Draco I'm so sorry you had to wake up," She started, but he hushed her with one finger. "Don't worry love; I know you haven't been feeling well ever since you woke up. The only thing that concerns me, though, is how on earth did you manage to pass through security and all the nurses and healers in the ward. Rather impressive don't you think?" He said to her and she looked sideways, frowning. For it to be three in the morning, the hospital looked much more illuminated and fuller than when she'd entered the room. Nothing like a bad horror movie. Guiding her by the waist, they made their way back to her room, a floor, and a few rooms away.

Back into her bed, Hermione still couldn't sleep very well even though she was drained and ached all over. She closed her eyes for Draco to think she was asleep, and after she could hear his soft snoring, she opened her eyes and saw throughout her window the peaceful-looking sky with almost no stars.

_Was it really sleepwalking caused by the potions or could it be…?_

* * *

The five days Hermione and Draco spent on the ward were delightfully dull. She wasn't allowed to use her wand for safety reasons, and although their friends came to visit a couple of times and she loved the time alone with Draco, they both admitted that every afternoon playing magical board games alongside other patients and reading the outdated herbology books the hospital had weren't in their definition of fun.

By the fourth day, Hermione was practically begging her head of department, Jonathan Mockridge, to let her do at least some paperwork only to be "kindly rejected" by him, who told her that with all the overwork she usually did, she _still _wasn't behind her work, so he much preferred her to rest and get better.

They arrived at Grimmauld Place, and Draco was almost sorry for it; the rather warm weather at Sydney was much more preferable than the humid and cold one in London. But he knew Hermione relaxed insantly when they arrived, for she knew they were home.

Besides her return, the not-so-surprising fact of Ginny entering the Holyhead Harpies was a reason to celebrate. She told Hermione she would wait until her return to go out and celebrate with some drinks alongside the guys, and although Hermione was feeling a little depressed about her family to go out drinking with her friends she didn't want to let Ginny down, so she accepted.

"So Weasley," Draco started with a grin on his lips. He, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron were seated in the bar at the Leaky Cauldron, both he and Hermione with eye bags caused by the time zone. "Haven't got any luck with the ladies?" He asked with a sly smile and an arm around Hermione who only rolled her eyes at him. She perfectly knew Ron wasn't harbouring any romantic feelings anymore towards her, but he still got pissed off by some comments made by Draco.

"Piss off Malfoy," Ron grumbled and took a sip from his dragon scale.

"Now that I think about it," Ginny said pensively minutes later of silent drinking, "You _haven't_ been dating as of lately. Is something wrong Ron?" She asked and looking at her with an annoyed expression he retorted "Look, Ginny, is none of your business what I-" "You know Ron," Hannah Abbott interrupted, having heard their conversation from where she was working. "My friend, Megan Jones, is single right now, and I believe she'd love to go on a date with you." She smiled as she refilled the pint of another customer.

"Oh, Megan!" Ginny exclaimed. "She's cousins with Gwenog! I could ask her to tell Megan you'd like to meet her." Ginny and Hannah both look suddenly excited as if they were young girls planning a slumber party, while the others just looked at the sudden exchange with a bemused expression on their faces.

"Piss all of you," Ron said taking a big gulp from his beer, "It's my problem whom I want to date or not." He finished his dragon scale and with a big thump on the bar, he motioned Hannah to refill it, who only sighed and complied.

"You don't need to be so rude Ronald; Hannah was just making a suggestion." Hermione scolded him with a frown on her face.

"It's fine Hermione." Hannah replied, returning with Ron's pint, "I was the one interrupting after all. Guess I got too accustomed at jumping into conversations here; it happens a lot."

"We asked Neville if he wanted to come but he said he was too busy," Harry said, trying to change the conversation. "Oh, yeah, he's always late on Thursdays. He's working on his apprenticeship and all." She sighed, "Besides, he doesn't like to come here much. Says he feels like he's abusing of me in some way." Hannah chuckled.

"Oh how I love that man." She said with a smile before walking away to attend another arriving customer.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to everybody, Draco and Hermione left the Leaky Cauldron a tad earlier than the rest.

"Please stay." She told Draco, taking him by the arm when he proceeded to clean up the now-empty bottles of potions Hermione had to take. "I know we both have work tomorrow but… I don't want to sleep alone tonight." She told him with glassy eyes and he smiled, seating himself next to her laying figure on the bed.

"I'm sorry if I've been quieter as of lately." She said after moments of silence, her long brown mane sprayed all over his chest, her eyes looking up to him. "It's not on purpose. Promise."

He drew his long, elegant fingers along her cheek and with his thumb, wiped away the single tear her eye shed. "Even though you have repeated to me a thousand times it wasn't my fault, I can't help but feel guilty over the wistful tears your beautiful eyes have been shedding in silence ever since the past week. I'm the one who's sorry for what happened to your parents. For everything." He said in a small voice and softly kissed her temple. "I can only imagine what you're going through."

"Whenever I think of it, I can't help myself but wonder, even though they would've forgotten me forever, how happy and _alive_ the would be right now if it weren't…"

"Hey," Draco interjected, knowing all too well where this was going.

"I _saw_ her, Draco. There was recognition in her eyes mere seconds before the blast. And now-" She said with a cracked voice, half seating herself on the bed. "My father died without remembering he had a child. And now he's dead because of that child."

"Granger,"

"My mother-" she choked back a sob "God only knows when will she even recognise _herself_. I honestly don't believe she'll ever get out from St. Mungo's Draco." She said with blank, teary eyes. "I won't ever forget the look of anguish and pain she had before I stunned her. That face of despair-" "Hermione!" He finally exclaimed, grabbing her chin to make her look up to him, tears running down her cheeks. His eyes softened. "No one, not even the lousy seer of Trelawney, was capable of knowing this would happen. Do. Not. Blame. Yourself. Do you hear me?" He said, his grey orbs boring into her brown ones. "Do you understand me?" He said once more, shaking her a bit and she meekly nodded.

"You're the most intelligent witch I know; I won't let you fall into the abyss of depression caused by the actions of _them._ I won't lose you because I know that even though it hasn't been easy, the stubborn witch I know won't let it get on her way." He said smiling and she too, managed a bleary smile. "Now, you know I usually don't say this kind of things, but I love you, and I don't think you deserve any less."

Hermione felt a sudden rush of warmness in her and she suddenly felt better. Her teary eyes made her vision blurry, so she slightly pecked him on the lips before falling into his arms feeling safe once again.

She closed her eyes, and he softly kissed them, tasting the salty tears left in her eyelashes. He traced with his lips her cheekbones, her jaw, and ever so gently, he kissed her neck without avoiding the un-glamoured bite she dreaded.

Her jumper was going further and further up her stomach as his kisses went further down, and with a silent sign of approval, he took it and her bra off, her skin shivering at the touch of the cold air coming from her window. "You are beautiful and divine Hermione Granger. I love you so much." Draco said into her skin, his lips and tongue tasting her ivory flesh. She faintly sighed as he kissed her breasts, his hands caressing all of her body tenderly. She entwined her fingers in his platinum hair, and she looked outside her window, the full, silver moon looking at her with its melancholic brightness.

Draco's kisses went up and with slow tenderness and devotion, he kissed her lips, small words of adoration coming out from his mouth every breath they took. More than a passionate embrace, Hermione couldn't feel more loved by the phrases and endearments from Draco.

As they both fell into sleep, tightly embraced, the last thing Hermione could hear was a soft humming, something like a lullaby, coming from Draco "I love you, Draco Malfoy.." she whispered before drifting into a deep sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Please tell me what you think of the story so far, I could really do with some reviews, because I know you guys read it, but I don't know if you like it or would like for me to add something or any sort of feedback would make me very happy:) And I very much hope my next chapter will be up in a short period of time ;)**

**Please review and keep reading! ;)**


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